In spite of recent education reform and reorganization efforts requiring the use of research-based methods, the fundamental elements of an effective program for children and youth with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) have not been succinctly identified. This article presents the essential features of programs for students with EBD.…

Increasing community involvement in out-of-school time programs can yield significant benefits to programs and the students that they serve. Community partnerships have the potential to meet a wide variety of needs, from improving participant recruitment and attendance to contributing volunteers or other resources to programs. This research brief…

Concerned about students' poor performance on national tests, one elementary school principal and her staff launched Project READ (Read Exciting Adventures Daily). The program allots 20 minutes daily for schoolwide reading and features home reading contracts, student participation awards, and theme weeks. For one event, the principal dons a…

Demonstrates how one community family life education agency deals with pressures for and against sex education, describing the agency's philosophy and curriculum and providing suggestions for strategic planning. (MP)

Describes a sex education program that offers classes for four groups: (1) mothers and their 9- to 12-year-old daughters, (2) mothers and their 13- to 17-year-old daughters, (3) fathers and their 9- to 12-year-old sons, and (4) fathers and their 13- to 17-year-old sons. Curricula relevant to the two age groups and classroom activities are…

Describes current action which emphasizes the need to match the resources of people in neighborhoods with those provided by social agencies. (Author/MP)

Presents a model that was used for 36 community forums designed to bring together diverse community members to learn about and collaborate on early childhood inclusion. The history and critical features of community forums are described, along with basic principles of community change supporting the model. (Author/CR)

Describes the Family Advocacy Program's social services, including its focus on clients' strengths. Lists the program's guiding principles, which stress the caregivers' role. Establishes the framework of values in which the program operates and discusses practice implications of the services for social service practice. (BC)

Many schools have identified successful strategies for prevention of drug abuse in attempting to make neighborhoods, schools, and communities healthier places to learn. One hundred and four summaries of these programs and practices are given in eight subject categories. First, peer programs describe a variety of ways in which young people help,…

In 1995, Public Agenda and the Institute for Educational Leadership joined forces to develop a means for citizens, community leaders, and educators to hold public conversations on issues facing America's schools. Conversations help community members build common ground for improving schools. Success hinges on credible local sponsors, group…

At Owsley County Elementary School (Booneville, Kentucky), the number of parent and community volunteers has doubled over the past 5 years. The school employs a full-time coordinator of parent involvement, has a parent center, and reaches out to the wider community with a monthly newsletter delivered to every county household. Benefits of parent…

Describes the City of York (Pennsylvania) School System's development of a K-12 AIDS curriculum using an advisory committee comprised of school administrators, teachers, noninstructional staff, health care professionals, and college students. The program gained wide community acceptance because of accurate, complete newspaper coverage and because…

A parent and the music supervisor from the Ridgewood Public Schools in New Jersey describe how parents formed the Friends of Music association to provide moral and some financial support to the district's music education program. (Part of a theme issue on the crisis in music education.) (SJL)

Describes the experiences of one Connecticut school district where, since the 1950s, all students have studied a foreign language beginning in elementary school. Discusses the importance of a long sequence of study, obstacles to and essential elements for success, the need for community support, and the benefits of parents as advocates. (SM)

In 1977, the government of the Sudan launched the Integrated Rural Development Project with the aim of ruralizing and vocationalizing primary school education. Integrated Rural Education Centres (IRECs) were the first attempt by the government to introduce vocational subjects as part of general education at the primary school level. Unfortunately,…