This publication summarizes research from AspenWSI's Courses to Employment project, which studied how six community college-nonprofit partnerships work together to help low-income adults succeed in the classroom and the labor market. The report provides an overview of the approach and strategies these partnerships use, how these partnerships are…

Some researchers believe that collaboration between schools and community stakeholders--including families, educators, community organizations, and businesses--is the key to improving public education. However, broad and inclusive community-school partnerships are rare. Instead, we frequently hear about friction between communities and their…

Young children's beliefs about what is right and wrong traditionally have been strongly influenced by their families. However, in today's American family and current culture, children often are coming to school with problematic behaviors and attitudes. Therefore, character education has become a necessity in schools. As children enter school,…

This article discusses the pros and cons of "involuntary withdrawals" in cases of students who are at risk of suicide. A June, 2005, Massachusetts Superior Court summary judgment ruling in the case of "Shin v. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)" concluded that MIT administrators owed a duty of care to suicide victim,…

This paper outlines educators' responsibilities when a student speaks of suicide. It focuses on suicide in Illinois and reports on a survey that asked principals about suicide behavior in their schools. The results were divided into three categories: districts with fewer than 1,000 students, districts with 1,000 to 2,500 students, and districts…

This paper lists guidelines approved by the Illinois State Board of Education for improving alcohol and drug education in the schools. Statistics point out the seriousness of alcohol and drug abuse in terms of human costs to the victim, his/her family, and associates, and the economic costs of health care, accident losses, crime, social programs,…

One hundred twenty-five Chicago (Illinois) area elementary and secondary school teachers were surveyed through responses to a 44-item questionnaire to determine the extent of their knowledge of school law. Many of the questions were based on Illinois school law, and the findings are qualified by local school district practice and the…

This report summarizes an analysis of the Illinois State Board of Education's (ISBE) Funding and Child Tracking System (FACTS) for students with emotional/behavioral disabilities (EBD) from 1989-1996. The data indicate: (1) the numbers of youth identified with EBD as a primary disability increased by 13 percent; (2) older children, male children,…

Illinois tort policy has swung from supporting the sovereign immunity of school districts, to completely striking down sovereign immunity, to narrowing conditions in which districts and employees could be liable. Advises Illinois and other states with similar problems to develop legislation and court precedents to reduce the complexity of tort…

As part of a comprehensive study of all mandates placed by the state of Illinois on elementary and secondary education, an analysis was undertaken of the school day/school year mandate in its historical perspective, inquiring into its original purpose, how well that purpose has been served, whether the mandate is still needed, and whether a…