This serial "double issue" focuses on protecting children and supporting families through greater collaboration between child welfare services and family resource programs. The issue includes the featured articles: (1) "Making the Media a Constructive Force in Child Welfare" (Kathy Bonk), which discusses how the media and child welfare agencies…

Knowledge of theory, of research, and of potential strategies is an important component in any educational equity effort. Unless these kinds of knowledge can be applied to specific situations, they are of little "real life" value. The use of vignettes may help. A vignette is a short story without an ending that presents an issue. The…

Collegiality can effectively address complex schoolwide problems requiring shared expertise or cohesive schoolwide action for resolution, but traditional teacher autonomy may inhibit such collegiality. Two New Zealand schools used collegial processes to develop solutions to schoolwide problems. Forest High was worried that staff failure to meet…

This paper describes a qualitative study at an at-risk primary school after a year of implementing educational changes. The paper opens with a detailed diary of the author's first morning observing the principal in action at the school. The analysis of data and field notes centers on the strengths of the principal's leadership, and the themes in…

The purpose of this manual is to suggest strategies for identifying components that must be addressed to create and develop a successful food service and nutrition facility. It focuses on the process involved in creating such facilities, and it provides an overview of the planning phase, design and construction, and educational specifications.…

This book describes instructional methods for teaching basic self-determination skills to students with disabilities. The first section provides an introduction to self-determination as an educational and transition outcome, discusses the impetus for an educational focus on self determination, and describes the relationships between transition…

The Reconnecting Youth (RY) program offers a carefully designed, research-validated model for building strength and competence in at-risk students, transforming risk into resilience. This manual was written to assist group leaders in implementing the RY program. The overall purpose of the program is to reach high-risk youth, who are on a potential…

Project Oz is a not-for-profit special services agency providing drug education and crisis intervention services. Project Oz curricula provide compact and well-researched information for teachers, supplemented by student learning activities that reinforce the lecture portions of the topic. These activities are grade-appropriate and incorporate…

This paper reviews research on principals' and teachers' roles in site-based decision making (SBDM). Research examining teacher participation in SBDM is reviewed, finding that higher quality teaching behaviors and higher student academic attainment resulted from teacher participation. The review focuses on steps in implementing SBDM, means for…

This book provides an overview of the political, moral, and social context within which British child welfare practitioners and managers attempt to work with children, families, and others. The book reviews the development of improved policy and practices in child protection. Placing children at the center of policy, practice, and discourse, it…

This symposium summary has been designed as a reference tool to promote continued dialogue about higher education's outreach agenda. Only a short summary of each conference session (including a contact name for further information) is presented. Following the prologue, which reviews Michigan State University's outreach model, the first section of…

This digest examines the unique nature of public charter schools, explains their obligations to students with disabilities, and presents the results of two federally funded studies of special education in charter schools. It finds wide variations among the 37 states which permit charter schools. The digest stresses the importance of the legal…

This guide is a comprehensive manual for administrators who manage child care facilities. The guide provides practical help with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of programs for young children and helping directors and teachers be more effective in their work. The chapters are: (1) "Qualities and Characteristics of an Effective…

Setting high academic standards and achieving against them is an important educational objective. Academic standards should originate within the student's community; be used to measure student achievement and school performance; be shared and understood by all members of the community; and be both explicit and comprehensible to lay people. The…

Educators in intentionally small schools in Chicago are working to create a climate that is inviting, engaging, and challenging to some of the most academically disadvantaged students. Over a period of 18 months, data were collected from eight intentionally small schools that included elementary, middle, and high schools; freestanding schools;…