Examines parental involvement in school affairs as a means to forge school-community partnerships in education. Identifies fundamental barriers to meaningful parental involvement and suggests possible solutions, such as parent empowerment, administrators' support, home-school interdependency, awareness of current research, reorganized structures,…

Creating Lasting Connections is an alcohol/drug abuse prevention program that defines communities in terms of the social support systems connected with the church. Community mobilization emphasizes development and training of community volunteer teams to act as advocates for the program. (SK)

An Oregon elementary teacher attributes her best teaching year ever to parents' and community members' voluntary participation. They got involved in four ways--communicating through voice mail, sharing expertise in the classroom, helping gather lesson materials, and participating in monthly learning celebrations. These activities supplemented…

According to the 1996 Phi Delta Kappan/Gallup Poll, the American public believes in removing persistent troublemakers from classrooms, banning smoking, and beefing up school security. To deal proactively with discipline problems, districts and schools need to develop community-supported strategic plans. The process involves a community survey, a…

Describes the Community Arts and Education Partnership, a community-system arts and literacy program for students at all grade levels. Notes that in this program, professional community artists and generalist classroom teachers delivered a sequential, integrated curriculum to over 500 students of diverse ethnicities. Concludes that literacy gains…

Agricultural leadership program graduates from 1982-2001 (n=290) and eight were interviewed. Survey results showed self-reported changes in knowledge and behavior. However, although they were aware of the importance of rural community development, they were not serving as community leaders nor actively improving their communities. (Contains 25…

Describes the Greensboro (North Carolina) Public Library's "Community of Readers," a network of community representatives who provide strategic planning for literacy services and act as advocates for literacy students. Also highlights the "Literacy in Libraries Across America" project as well as 13 public libraries in four…

Although Americans still cling to the ideal of free public education, the broad mandate that once tied schools to this ideal and other social, economic, and political objectives is fading. Publics, created out of multitudinous self-interests, form via deliberation. Deliberative forums can produce an agenda for actions linked by a shared sense of…

The National PTA, which helped plan and conduct many Phi Delta Kappan public education forums, believes that parent and community involvement, competent and caring educators, and adequate funding are key components of educational excellence. As parents discuss these vital components with other community members, they can jointly develop awareness,…

The Phi Delta Kappan educational forum in Chicago provided a viable means of soliciting community input and enabling stakeholders to enhance their understanding of public schools' purpose, identify measures to assess the current system's effectiveness, and recommend necessary changes. Forum participants heard statements from state and Chicago…

Based on a recent community-based research project with injured workers, identifies challenges faced when academics engage in community-based research based at a university, including dealing with the constraints and requirements of academic research funding, bridging the goals of academics and community members, and functioning within the…

The case of Colgate University is used to argue that community-based research can be a vibrant and effective form of service learning, especially in rural communities. However, community-based research is difficult to execute well. There is little flexibility and high consequences for failed projects. As such, community-based research requires…

Compares seven multi-institutional community-based research networks in Appalachia; Colorado; District of Columbia; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Philadelphia; Richmond, Virginia; and Trenton, New Jersey. After reviewing the histories of the networks, conducts a comparative SWOT analysis, showing their common and unique strengths, weaknesses,…

Reflects upon the development, implementation and research of specific intergenerational family literacy initiatives in the Anglophone section of New Brunswick. Presents four initiatives and discusses working with the community, working in the neighborhood, and working within a university context. (SG)

A community water supply project in Cameroon illustrates the following constraints on community participation in development: paternalistic authorities, prescriptive role of the state, selective participation, bias toward "hard" issues, inattention to negative results, group conflicts, gatekeeping, pressure for immediate results,…