Early language experiences are vital to children's future success in school and quality language-rich interactions can be promoted at home and around the community in many creative ways. Project ELLO (Everyday Language and Learning Opportunities) is a research-based public engagement campaign that began as a novel and efficient way to address…

Life is Precious (LIP) was developed to help reduce suicidal behavior in Latina adolescents. As part of an external evaluation of the LIP program, we conducted focus groups with adolescent participants and mothers to learn whether participants and families believe that the activities of LIP address risks for suicidal behavior. Four focus groups…

Given the mounting call for academic achievement gains in America's public schools--particularly urban schools labeled "failing"--the need for community engagement to tackle a host of underlying social challenges warrants the resources of the nation's colleges and universities (Harkavy & Hartley, 2009). Because colleges and…

The "Early Years Learning Framework for Australia" emphasises that children's own identity is constructed within their given context of family and community. This article presents the findings of a multiple case study project undertaken within five remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Australia. Community Elders were…

This publication describes some of the issues and problems dealt with by Involvement of Mexican-Americans in Gainful Endeavors (IMAGE), a national, non-profit organization aimed at improving the social and economic conditions of Mexican-Americans. One of the main sources of concern for this group is the high dropout rate of Mexican-American…

A number of circumstances challenge the very notion of the provision of mental health services that are effective, accessible, and sustainable in the most impoverished urban settings. These circumstances pose significant challenges to conducting research on alternative mental health practices of sufficient quality and rigor necessary to pass…

The goals of the Rochester (New York) Education Initiative are to inform the total community of the crisis of low academic achievement within the public school system, and to involve the total community in a set of strategies to correct the problem. Activities included the following: (1) meetings to solicit the support of key community leaders and…

This paper describes state, institutional, and other community-based programs deemed exemplary (on the basis of design imperatives) for successful interventions to promote meaningful access of minority group youth to postsecondary education. The imperatives include early intervention, comprehensive and integrated intervention, intervention…

School-age children between the ages of 5 and 14 spend up to 80% of their time out of school. These hours represent an opportunity to help children grow and acquire important social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills and to help them develop lifelong interests. This time can also be used to provide support for the academic challenges faced…

Explores why community services learning (CSL) is the right thing to do for professional renewal, enrichment, and meaning. Examples are given from Gig Harbor High School (Washington). The role of CSL in changing school cultures is also examined. Service learning is a path to better ways to educate. (SLD)

School-age children between the ages of 5 and 14 spend up to 80% of their time out of school. These hours represent an opportunity to help children grow and acquire important social, emotional, cognitive, and physical skills and to help them develop lifelong interests. This time can also be used to provide support for the academic challenges faced…

This paper discusses ways in which communities can enhance a family's ability to foster learning in the first 3 years of their child's life so that the child will be academically, emotionally, and socially competent in the transition to preschool and school. The paper focuses on model community-based programs that serve high risk families with…

In 1963, the Washington, D.C. Public School Department began a special demonstration project on the secondary school level, the Webster Girls School Program, to reduce the number of dropouts due to pregnancy and recidivism. An interagency, multidisciplinary plan was devised to provide comprehensive services to the girls. Social case work, academic…

Designed to help parents and teachers think beyond the ordinary ways in which parent-family involvement in education is considered and approached, this book describes 34 operational parent-family involvement programs in preschools and in elementary, middle, and high schools. It also describes programs run by school districts and communities. Among…

More than at any time in our nation's history, mayors are playing an active role in mobilizing these local community and civic interests to act collectively on behalf of children and youth. These leaders see a vital link between their cities' capacity to prepare young people for successful adulthood and long-term civic vitality. More than any…