Partnerships between schools and out-of-school organizations (museums, zoos, nature centers, etc.) have been shown to improve the educational experiences for both students and teachers. In this article, we report on the experiences we have documented as a nature center through our active involvement in school partnerships. Our partnerships with…

The fourth of six volumes on the Making Special Friends Project, an approach to promoting social interactions between severely handicapped students and nonhandicapped persons in the school and community, details procedures for implementation. The first section discusses a cornerstone of the project, the expanded Individualized Education Program…

The public school system of Montgomery County, Maryland, established a database of more than 1,800 volunteer business and community resources in the areas of science and mathematics who are willing to share their expertise with students and teachers in 154 county schools. Through a grant, a monthly newsletter that highlights this sharing is…

This guide was written to assist program providers in implementing a model curriculum developed for teaching parents to be the primary sexuality educators of their children. It provides an outline of the tasks and considerations to follow when designing and implementing a program, including: (1) suggestions for developing community support;…

The purpose of the Wilderness Spirit program is to lead and assist children to comprehend, use, and conserve information about the natural resources of the Hill Country of Texas, including its wildlife, plant life, weather and climate, soils and minerals, water, and land use as well as all forms of agriculture and activities of daily subsistence…

Coordinated social services may be one of the most promising aspects of the current era of systemic educational reform. However, moving from a policy that calls for coordinated service integration into the actual practice of providing services requires the resolution of a host of complex, interacting issues. This paper provides an overview of what…

The Pennsylvania Department of Education mandated that all school districts in the state include K-12 instruction about Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and related issues beginning in September 1987. This paper describes one school district's comprehensive AIDS education program. A survey administered in the fall of 1991 produced…

Described are programs sponsored by the Atlanta, Georgia, community which has accepted the "community of believers" concept espoused by the Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools. According to the concept, the community at large must believe that each student is capable of learning, our educational system can teach students, our…

This report examines the use of community-based support to facilitate curriculum renewal efforts in small rural school districts. Interviews with educators from five school districts in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington describe three approaches to curriculum renewal: community-initiated approaches, state-directed reform efforts, and…

A project is described that focused on parents' becoming more skilled in helping the schools do a better job of teaching basic skills in K-12 and on the problems of discipline and drug abuse. As background information on Pike County, demographic data are provided, and the development of community education is overviewed. Development of the support…

This report compiles information related to the extent, quality, methodology, and effectiveness of certain process elements in the implementation of federally funded community education projects. It is divided into four major parts: need, process, program, and evaluation. Under these headings, 24 separate components are described. These components…

As part of the Children, Youth, and Families at Risk (CYFAR) Evaluation Collaboration, responses from extension professionals in 42 states and territories to the 74-item Organizational Change Survey were analyzed. Overall trends in the discrepancy between the current and ideal status of extension as indicated by all state discrepancy scores in all…