South Carolina's Education Improvement Act (EIA) of 1984 was a comprehensive piece of reform legislation providing for 60 new educational policies and programs. These new activities were funded by a one-cent increase in the state sales tax. The Act requires annual reports that present information concerning the benefits of EIA, provide additional…

This paper suggests a strategy for the evaluation of programs designed for Native children enrolled in predominantly non-Native urban school districts. The strategy provides a means by which Native people can increase their involvement in, responsibility for, and control of the education of their children. The paper is divided into five sections.…

The principal of a public elementary school serving grades K through 6 developed a community involvement program for a school in which community involvement had not been a major factor in the educational process. Primary objectives of the practicum were to increase the number of parents and other community members participating in activities…

The Community Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE), which is described in this report, is a co-curricular learning, non-profit agency offering over 16 programs to children, the elderly, special populations, and low-income residents in the Chico, California, area and in three state institutions in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Based at California…

Rural and economic development efforts are inadequate responses to changing rural conditions. They fail because they are often top-down driven and few influential people are involved. Minnesota's Project Future is designed to help distressed communities take charge of their own direction. Developed on the principle of collective empowerment, this…

This volume, second of two, presents results of the formative evaluation of 14 Head Start programs that received grants for the purpose of demonstrating a variety of approaches to improving transition between Head Start programs and elementary schools. The evaluation was designed to obtain data on project implementation, successes, and obstacles.…

Part of a series designed to help community groups engage in discussion on the possibility of individual and community transformation, this guide explores the issues of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Characteristics of stereotyping and factors producing prejudice (personality, learned beliefs, frustration, and economic competition)…

Comprehensive staff development approaches described in this paper are based on on-site work with school districts and a 1980 National Rural Project investigation of problems experienced by over 80 rural districts and cooperatives across the country as they attempted to implement staff development programs. Three models are described which…

This report examines Federal government activities undertaken to support adult female victims of spouse abuse in 1979 and 1980, summarizes issues that must be resolved to improve national, State, and local responsiveness to the problems of spouse abuse, and suggests legislative, regulatory, and administrative changes. The needs of victims of…

Selective organizational change in the school presents one promising approach for delinquency prevention among young people. The organizational change approach assumes that: (1) delinquency will be reduced when young people are able to show their competence and worth; (2) young people learn socially legitimate behavior mainly in the school; and…

To help educators improve their school public relations (PR) programs, this handbook tells them how to identify and communicate with "special publics" and how to evaluate their communication efforts. An introductory overview points out that two-thirds to three-quarters of the adult population have no children in school and that schools need to…

An effective staff development program for rural teachers will have identified the needs to be met, will incorporate good management principles, and will make use of a variety of resources--the community itself, nonprofessional staff, business and industry, and shared teaching efforts. Distinctive staff development needs of rural teachers may…

The broad purpose of this project was to examine all aspects of the Community College of Vermont (CCV) review and contracting process and to recommend changes to the CCV Review Board and Decision Team for implementation. Examination focused on the present program, the contract format, Local Review Committee procedures, the counseling process, and…

Suggestions for improving community relationships necessary to the development of community colleges as a social and economic force are provided. The board of trustees' role in strengthening institutional programs, in considering the interests of the total community, and in solving school problems is reviewed. Citizen advisory committees are…

Identification, coordination, and development of community resources for career education projects are discussed in this guidebook. Topics discussed include the following: (1) the role of the community resource coordinator; (2) community resources (available people, materials, and services that are useful and valuable for educational purposes);…