Paints a portrait of a 7-year-old girl, her mother, and their experience at a community-based, after-school youth program in a public housing development, demonstrating how stories taken from the field can illustrate the power of peer education and motivate community based organization staff toward more inspired educational after school…

Discusses findings of a study of service-learning programs in middle schools in Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Missouri, particularly noting reasons the programs could be improved to show a greater impact on students. Considers the effects of such programs on students' academic achievement and social development. (JPB)

Managed care has profoundly altered system delivery models in mental health. Many school-based mental health professionals lack information on how professional practice is being reshaped. This paper reviews the confluence between managed care and school-based services. It provides a re-orientation framework to help give a clearer understanding of…

Describes a literature conference for the Harlem community on choosing and using self-affirming books for African American children. Describes Grandma's Place, a literacy and parent support center with an array of multicultural literature. Describes programs and activities that seek to support literacy, strengthen the family, and provide access to…

Studied community perceptions of students and faculty involved in service learning and campus outreach activities through a survey of 65 directors of community service programs in which students participated and followup interviews with 30 agency personnel. Findings suggest that campuses and communities generally enjoy positive relationships, but…

A survey of 13 vocational programs that used natural supports as one of their strategies for securing and supporting people with disabilities in community jobs found that people with more severe disabilities had fewer wage- and integration-outcomes and fewer typical features of employment compared to those with less severe disabilities. (CR)

This commentary discusses the limitations of traditional research and the benefits of participatory action research (PAR) that changes the stance of the researcher from dispassionate observer to that of friend, ally, and colleague of the "subject". The use of PAR in helping researchers, parents, and advocates work together in promoting…

A study of 112 preschoolers with and without disabilities in 16 community-based, inclusive preschool programs, found both groups of children exhibited similar child behaviors and were meaningfully engaged in a variety of adult- and child-initiated activities within similar activity contexts; however, children with disabilities received more adult…

Interviewed students in grades 4-7 to determine correlates of regular participation in anti-tobacco activities and their willingness to participate if given the opportunity. Correlates of both regular participation and willingness to participate included parental discussion of tobacco use, exposure to school anti-tobacco courses, and belief that…

With the purpose of contributing to the research and discussion about youth work as a contextual, interpersonal process of human interaction, it is suggested that youth work is like a modern dance that works best when youth workers are present, in sync with youth development rhythms for trusting and growing and making meaning in an atmosphere that…

This study is a cluster randomized controlled trial of the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP; H. J. Markman, S. M. Stanley, & S. L. Blumberg, 2001). Fifty-seven religious organizations (ROs), consisting of 217 newlywed couples, were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 intervention conditions: PREP delivered by university clinicians…

This article describes the development of a peace education project, including the Peace Education Kit, in schools in Sierra Leone. The program, initiated by the World Bank, has involved working partnerships between local and international agencies and provides a case study of how schools can work with the community to contribute to a national…

Community Performance Theater is a vehicle for creating collective knowledge based on oral history, opening dialogue in an urban setting, and paving the way for social change.

Research has indicated that traditional office-based family therapy services are not always effective with at-risk families and that there is an increasing trend toward home-based delivered services (W. Snyder & E. McCollum, 1999). In this qualitative study, the author explored experienced home-based family therapists' perceptions of the…

Describes the Yellow School Bus Project, a community program jointly sponsored by religious, civic, fraternal, business, and nonprofit organizations in Durham, New Hampshire, to provide homeless children with supplies and clothes to help them succeed in school. (PKP)