One way to involve parents in their children's education is to create a parent center in or near the school. In an informal setting, parents can meet other parents and their children's teachers to plan activities and exchange information. The center should be in an accessible location and open when parents are most likely to visit, such as early…

Compiled from information contained in the Program Year 1994-95 Annual Narrative Performance Reports submitted by states to the U.S. Department of Education, this update shares selected information on recent developments in family literacy programs. Section 1 provides information on new or existing collaborations in these states: Colorado,…

This collection of 17 papers focuses on the important role of service-learning in the education of students at liberal arts colleges, drawing on the activities of the Learning and Service Alliance sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC). They include: (1) "An Introduction to Service-Learning" (Robert L. Sigmon); (2)…

This report to the community provides an overview of the programs, services, faculty, staff, and students at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in Kansas for 1997-98. Messages from the President and the Chair of the Board of Trustees open the report and are followed by an outline of JCCC's mission, which focuses on general education, degree…

This paper presents practical options for school development in relation to vocational education ranging from small and specific steps to larger whole school change. Chapter 1 describes the context. Chapter 2 highlights three interlocked imperatives to attain this objective: a comprehensive and well-structured educational program that deals…

This paper discusses the REAL (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning) model as a necessary component of rural school-to-work (STW) programs. In rural areas where opportunities for traditional STW approaches (such as apprenticeships) are limited, entrepreneurial education teaches students to be job creators, not just job applicants. This…

This packet of materials is intended for high school educators who are interested in implementing career education programs. Introductory information explains the need for career education, the targeted audience, access to resources, and objectives. Descriptions of the career education programs of seven schools throughout the province of Alberta…

This booklet addresses the issues involved in working with children and adolescents who have disabling conditions and use alcohol and other drugs. An introductory chapter notes the need for increasing attention to alcohol and drug problems among individuals with disabling conditions. The second chapter provides evidence suggesting that the…

Suggestions for long-term policy development to prevent the spread of the AIDS/HIV virus through promoting healthy behaviors and strengthening school-community partnerships are offered in this report. Goals of the booklet are to provide information on AIDS education in relation to recent changes in curriculum design, materials, and research;…

"Analysis of Teacher-Directed Experimentation" (ALF) is a project currently underway in Sweden. In Swedish terminology, a distinction is made between central, regional, and local educational development work; these terms indicate the level within the school system at which a particular kind of development work is conducted.…

The aim of this handbook is to help school improvement groups, parent advisory committees, administrators, and teachers plan for parent participation in their schools. The handbook contains information on the reasons for parent involvement and ideas and strategies various communities have used. Section I provides background information on parent…

To provide a more permanent foundation for foreign language education in general and for extracurricular FLES programs in particular, a project was funded by the Iowa Humanities Board and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its overall goals were to ensure positive foreign language learning experiences for elementary and secondary school…

A model for involving local planning and support committees in the process of planning Wisconsin county extension education programs was developed as a way of improving the planning of extension programs statewide. The key components of the planning model developed were (1) the use of influential officials and community representatives and (2) the…

In 1985 and 1986, 24 and 37 schools respectively, were publicly recognized as merit schools under the Design for School Excellence (DSE) program of the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public School system. The increase in merit schools was not accompanied by a large increase in the number of awards made on individual indicators. Rather, the new merit schools…

This publication offers suggestions for conducting in-service teachers' workshops in which participants explore the relationship between the media specialist and the reading program. The first section describes procedures for effective workshop planning; other sections provide suggestions for teaching about the reading process and the reading…