By providing early access to education, early childhood and community-based programs are helping to close the achievement gap prevalent among children from impoverished homes.

This report describes efforts to provide seamless transitions from early to elementary education. Specifically, it details SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids), a five-year initiative funded by the Kellogg Foundation, which has contributed a unique, community-based perspective to the national conversation on what it takes to…

Based on the premise that school reform efforts must consider the needs of at-risk children, this paper discusses parallel reform efforts that focus on community service. The first part discusses logical linkages between community service and "at-risk" education and describes how Arizona is attempting to formalize these linkages within…

This article discusses national, state, and local youth service, noting the initiatives of 1984-5, the association of national youth services with the military draft, some keys to deriving maximum value from youth service initiatives, and the outcomes that can be anticipated from a youth service program. (DCS)

During the 1987-88 school year the Indiana Department of Education assisted the United States Department of the Interior and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources with a program which asked students to become involved in activities to maintain and manage public lands. The 1987 Take Pride in America (TPIA) school program encouraged volunteer…

This book describes the efforts of 10 state projects, funded by the Youth Advocacy Projects of the Teacher Corps, which brought students, teachers, school administrators, community members, youth service agencies, state education officials, and university personnel together to create more effective services for troubled youth. The first two…

Since its inception in 1985, and through 1992, Washington state's Distinguished Professorship Program has succeeded in establishing 32 prestigious professorships at its four-year institutions with 3 more in process. Also in 1985, the state legislature enacted the Distinguished Professorship Trust Fund Program to strengthen partnerships between…

Examines occupational education's, the private sector's, and the federal government's roles in job creation. Describes state and local programs that attract or revitalize industry and expand the economic base. Presents criteria for evaluating state and/or local job development programs and considers models for expanding vocational education's…

Drawing from a broad-based review of relevant research and literature, this report outlines selected national, state, and local policy developments in 1991-92 related to the collaboration among family, school, and community. Specifically, the report examines policies related to interventions for infants and toddlers; family support; coordination…

This manual provides examples of how service learning can be integrated into the curriculum of the high school. The integration of activities can add real-life experiences to the academic curriculum and help create the capacity for students to improve their school and community. The three types of service activities include: (1) direct activities…

This status report presents progress data concerning the Graduate Fellowship Program that was initiated in Washington State in 1987. The Washington State legislature enacted the Graduate Fellowship Trust Fund Program to strengthen partnerships between citizens and public four-year institutions. It does this by providing a matching grant program to…

The Montana Behavioral Initiative (MBI) is a staff development program created to stem school violence. Program components include summer institutes, site teams, ongoing technical assistance, interagency cooperation, program evaluation, information dissemination, and governance by the MBI council. MBI has expanded to include nearly 100 Montana…

The Pennsylvania Department of Education's Learn and Serve America K-12 Grant Program distributes funds from the Corporation for National Service to schools to develop and expand service learning programs throughout Pennsylvania. The 1995-96 grant program is currently funding 101 school-based programs (70 recipients of continuing funds from the…

The state of Washington implemented the Readiness to Learn program as part of the state's Family Policy Initiative. The primary goal of the program is to serve as a formal link between education and human services by authorizing grants to local school-linked, community-based consortia to develop and implement strategies that ensure children arrive…

This document describes four states' approaches to increasing the involvement of families in schools. It discusses the strategies used by the states to: (1) enhance teachers' capacity to work with families; (2) encourage local school districts to develop family involvement programs; (3) encourage efforts that use family involvement as a component…