First five years are identified as a critical period of child growth in scientific literature. In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 10 that appropriated a 50 cent per pack tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products to support early childhood development. As a result, Kern County Children and Families Commission administered over $10…

A great deal of attention recently has focused on evidence-based programs--interventions that have been found through rigorous evaluation to have positive effects or impacts on targeted outcomes. Public and private funders want to fund evidence-based programs and are requiring evidence of outcomes. Meanwhile, program providers want to be highly…

This article describes the initiation of a statewide public-private partnership to expand and enhance services for infants, toddlers, and their families. It presents information regarding the initiation and implementation of the project; the program requirements, including those for professional development; and the design of a three-phase program…

Presented are the results of a study using latent profile analysis to describe the self-reported practices of 138 evaluators. Four classes emerged and were labeled (a) indistinct pattern of practice, (b) method-focused, (c) user-focused, and (d) robust pattern of practice. Evaluators in the "indistinct pattern of practice" class had mean item…

The "Connections Through Clubs" program provides all students with the opportunity to participate in a small-group extracurricular activity and mentoring experience led by school faculty, staff, and community members during the school day throughout the academic year. This schoolwide program was developed in response to identified school needs and…

When school counselors team and collaborate with school personnel, families, and community members to foster strengths-based partnerships, they are able to implement classroom, schoolwide, and community-based programs and interventions that support and empower children and families. Strengths-based partnerships utilize the assets found in schools,…

In this article, the authors describe a group of committed people called the Our Kids Network in the Regional Municipality of Halton, in Ontario, Canada, which was given the opportunity to create a positive, future-oriented vision for the children in their community, and detail how it is making its vision for children a reality. The Halton Our…

Teacher education programs have a long history of producing excellent health and physical education (HPE) teachers for suburban school districts. But graduates who start their career at high-need schools often feel poorly prepared to face the challenges of low-income school districts, schools, and students. This article is directed primarily to…

Over 750,000 U.S. school-age children are homeless. Schools can eliminate attendance and environmental barriers sabotaging these children's education by becoming communities of learning that provide specialized education for children, contextualized education for parents, and linkages to needed services. The Bronx's Brownstone School, Chicago's…

Describes the development of a new institutional infrastructure for service coordination in a Chicago university-community-school partnership project. Examines convening and goal-structuring processes, institutional interests and reward systems, relations to external environments, communication linkages, and institutional conventions.…

Community schools come in all shapes and sizes, offering wide-ranging support and opportunities for children, families, and the greater community. Elementary principals from several rural and urban community schools explain how close-knit community partnerships created campuses that involved parents, energized teachers, and enhanced children's…

This manual provides a detailed outline of the innovative school-community collaboration between the New York City Public Schools and the Children's Aid Society of New York City to meet the pressing needs of children and families in the Washington Heights neighborhood. The manual describes the steps taken to develop the program of social services…

In August 2000, twenty people met in a room in Boston to address two questions: (1) How can Boston create a network of community schools?; and (2) Does the action have to proceed one school at a time, or are there systematic changes that can advance the movement? For the next four years, these people worked together, without funding, a road map,…

This report examines the efforts of several visionary partnerships that have pioneered in bringing Head Start and child care services together for the children in their programs. While the partnerships vary in scope and design, all of the initiatives discussed in this report provide comprehensive services to children and families, including:…

For 5 years, the New York Partnership for Statewide Systems Change has cooperated with 14 public high schools planning inclusive programs. The program involves one general-education structure with supportive services, appropriate scheduling and grouping practices, adult collaboration and professional development, and revised assessment/grading…