Today's young children need people committed to making the world a more caring place that offers every child and family the opportunity to thrive. This article presents five steps that any individual can take to become an active advocate for children, letting others know that the learning and experiences of early childhood shape a child's entire…

A yearlong senior experience course requires teams of business students to solve real problems for organizations in the community. Students enhanced responsibility, confidence, and organizational skills. Problems centered on differentiating the course from internships and improving staffing. Students had problems with group dynamics, team…

Surveys of adolescent alcohol abuse prevention task force members found that members who were more satisfied with the task force and lived in the community less time spent more time on task force work. Satisfaction was greater for those who perceived more personal and community influence on the task force. (SM)

Highlights the importance of designing integrated, coordinated social contexts to foster children's development. Summarizes effective program characteristics and guidelines for building lasting partnerships. Six types of involvement (parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning at home, decision making, and collaborating with the community)…

Includes "Teaching Agriculture and the Environment" (Bruening); "Zoos Are a Natural Place to Learn" (Wimer); "Responsible Environmental Teaching in a Threatened Community" (Nelson); "Community-Based Curriculum Development" (Rilla, Ponzio); "Agricultural Education and Environmental Education"…

Describes how an initial $1,500 grant helped build a desperately needed health clinic on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Provides the history of the clinic, from its beginning as a small grant to its ultimate development into a $400,000 solar-heated health clinic with a staff of 9 people, including a full-time physician. (MAB)

Lewiston-Porter is a suburban western New York district with 2,700 students and a history of budget and bond referenda defeats. This article describes the district's development and implementation of a school-community communication system. The multiple strategies and proactive involvement efforts changed community perspective and facilitated a…

English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs are proliferating because of sudden, often unexpected growth of immigrant populations in predominantly "homogeneous" communities. When these changes occur, principals should work with the community to acquire demographic information and project enrollment and educational needs, cooperate with local…

The important concepts undergirding school-based management are greater budgetary autonomy, district-level support for local school needs assessments and plans, allowed deviations from district normative expectations, better onsite decision-making opportunities, and a total district commitment to instructional and administrative excellence. In…

Educational, economic/political, developmental perspectives form debate concerning use of minority languages for literacy. Grounds for dialogue among people who hold these perspectives can be found in establishing common set of questions to be asked in multilingual contexts. In wider context, appropriate question is how multilingual approach can…

Increasingly, elementary schools are expected to serve as centers in a systematic network of child services. If schools become umbrella social service agencies, their historic educational function may be jeopardized. Perhaps local social service agencies should set up field offices in school buildings with their own staffs and managers. (MLH)

A comprehensive, field-tested plan for changing school attendance boundaries involves community-based committees that analyze the relevant data (with support from central office staff members) and develop the initial recommendations for the school board. Outlines a six-step process and lists some basic principles. (MLF)

A British adult education center successfully offered foreign language instruction to children and adults together. Lessons learned from the experience include limiting attendance to 1 child per adult, targeting children aged 9-10, and extending the course to 20-25 weeks. (SK)

Project SHAPE is a two-year intervention and enrichment program for underachieving and educationally disadvantaged ninth and tenth graders at Scott High School, in Toledo, Ohio. Student problems are addressed through a systematic program of structural reorganization, teacher empowerment, curriculum development, and the involvement of students,…

Defines school-based management as a form of school district organization based on internal growth and development, rather than outside expertise. Roving leadership, an exciting alternative to top-down management, is issue-oriented and shifts responsibility according to key individuals' specific talents, skills, and abilities. Benefits are…