Although rural schools often are the center of community life, ownership of rural education is not necessarily vested in all elements of the community. Without diligent planning, many members of the rural community do not become stockholders in the community's largest enterprise, public education. The program approach to public education has…

The First Impressions initiative was created in 1987 by Governor Roy Romer of Colorado to increase public awareness of the critical importance of the first 5 years of life, assist communities in developing effective programs for young children and their families, and influence early childhood policy and practice. In 1991-92, the priorities of…

This report provides an extensive picture of factors often thought to be associated with promoting good citizenship among youth. In particular, it focuses on the civic development of 9th- through 12th-grade students. Broadly speaking, student characteristics, family influences, the role of schools, media factors, and the possible benefits of…

Ten recommendations are discussed for implementing comprehensive arts education and integrated arts-in-education programs in Connecticut's public schools. The recommendations are as follows: (1) Connecticut students should receive arts instruction that ensures an understanding in all of the arts; (2) Connecticut school districts should provide…

School-based management and teacher empowerment are consistent elements of school restructuring efforts nationwide. These developments have grown out of frustration over the failure of centralized efforts to significantly improve schools and increase support for individual empowerment. Teacher empowerment is based on four assumptions: (1)…

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)…

An evaluation was done to assess the participation of students from the 70 Creating a New Approach to Learning Project (Project CANAL) schools in training activities organized by Project CANAL. Two activities were included. The first, titled "student Workshops," consisted of a series of five 1-day workshops that sought to provide…

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…

During five meetings conducted in different states by the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) to gain insight into the status of 55 parent involvement programs from their organizers and implementors, parental involvement in the secondary education level repeatedly emerged as a shared concern. Following the meetings SEDL…

The aim of this document is to give teachers in Tasmania an understanding of the importance and usefulness of the environment as a learning resource both as an immediate stimulus for learning and for the long term process of forming sound community values. The document provides schools with a basis for the development of environmental resources…

This second revised edition of a guide to promoting and attracting users to a church library retains most of the material of the previous edition, adds new material, and updates the references. Guidelines are presented in six chapters: (1) "Promoting Library Use" (stages of promotion, ways of attracting the attention and interest of prospective…

A practicum project was designed and implemented to improve and increase kindergarten through third-grade students' awareness of responsible citizenship. To attain this goal, efforts were made to (1) insure that teachers became knowlegeable about teaching strategies that impart an awareness of law-related concepts; (2) increase students' awareness…

Over the last 10 years there has been a striking development in the system of community-based programs to replace or supplement institutional care for juvenile offenders. However, the analysis of 30 community-based residential programs in six metropolitan areas found that the community-based model of services is still a relatively untried…

Despite widespread indifference or resistence to the idea, communication scientists need to discuss the ethical implications of their research. Fortunate in being able to conduct research, scientists are responsible to and for the larger population in whose names they do their work. They need to realize that such traditional research areas and…

This article examines social studies in the primary grades and shows how community resources can facilitate social learning. A three-stage model is examined which addresses the issues of citizenship and community involvement in the primary grades. It provides for teacher/school, parent/community, and learner involvement in all stages of…