This newsletter feature issue focuses on quality assurance and innovative efforts to enhance service quality for persons with developmental disabilities. Individual articles include: "Redesigning Quality Assurance" (Clarence J. Sundram); "Quality Assurance, Quality Enhancement" (Charlie Lakin et al.); "Challenging…

A project to map the outlines of school-community initiatives for educational improvement was undertaken to provide more information about these cooperative efforts. The mapping project aimed to identify the major types, purposes, and strategies of school-community initiatives and explore the dynamics of implementing, sustaining, and expanding…

This report is a review of development education and the black and ethnic minority communities in Great Britain. The development education movement in the United Kingdom has been based on producing resources, training, and support to the deliverers of education, whether teachers, youth workers, or community organizers. A feature of the movement…

This report presents three case studies that are part of a larger study of six organizations which have closed a sheltered workshop or a nonwork, segregated program and replaced them with integrated employment or other integrated, community-based activities for individuals with disabilities. The three organizations reported on are Bonney…

Primary prevention strategies (prevention at the community level) for disadvantaged populations are discussed. A number of factors in Canadian society have placed additional stress on many poor and working class families. These include issues of housing, unemployment, lack of education, and social changes with adverse effects on the disadvantaged.…

This report urges that the mission of land grant universities be expanded beyond outreach and service to full engagement with their communities. The engaged institution is seen as being organized to respond to today's and tomorrow's students, bringing research and engagement that offer practical opportunities for students into the curriculum, and…

This study examines how 11 community colleges present and promote their service learning courses via the Internet. Of particular interest to this study are the following features of online presentations: (1) how detailed and developed the Web site is and the extent of the information provided; (2) whether the Web site provides student and faculty…

The GOAL ONE Project of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) is designed to ensure that children have access to an environment that provides a foundation for school success. GOAL ONE is a national project involving model, community-based, collaborative programs that provide a nurturing environment for children whose…

Issues in establishing and improving school-community partnerships are presented in this paper. Following a review of literature, the essential elements of strong parental involvement programs are described. Five major types of parental involvement programs are identified, and strategies and activities for improving them are offered. A conclusion…

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act calls for partnerships across local, state, and federal levels. This document offers suggestions for community organization to achieve the national education goals. The first section includes information on forming a steering committee, creating task forces, avoiding turf battles and finger pointing, defining…

Noting that the skills of community-building are some of the same skills needed to help families, this newsletter issue focuses on enhancing the resources and leadership in the community as the best way to provide support for families. The articles in the newsletter include: (1) "Building on the Strengths of Communities"; (2)…

Using a theoretical model developed from Ajzen's and Fishbein's (1980) theory of reasoned action, researchers investigated the neighboring intentions of community residents toward mentally disabled individuals. A random sample of 345 residents in Winnipeg, Canada, responded to a survey by mail. Questionnaires were randomly assigned one of eight…

Developed for program facilitators in rural communities, Leadership Enhancement for the Active Retired (LEAR) is a training model that builds on the leadership skills and expertise of people who are retired from full-time employment, but are still willing to share their time and talent to benefit their community. Although other formats for the…

School-based early childhood centers have the potential for responding effectively to a broad range of child and family needs and to society's demands for more effective schools. They have four defining features: (1) implementation of quality programs and developmentally appropriate practices for young children through age eight; (2) families as…

This document is divided into three volumes. Volume I describes what exemplary Private Industry Councils (PICS) do, Volume II explains why they are effective, and Volume III tells how to implement exemplary practice. Volume I contains case studies of 10 exemplary PICs organized by 7 topics areas (history and structure, policies and program…