Countless court cases have taught school districts that fairness in general operations funding means more than dispersing funds to the most politically powerful communities. The same holds true for facilities. Equity (allocating resources based on relative need) depends on setting standards, inventorying existing facilities, identifying the…

Discusses the need for citizen involvement to help restore and improve nutrition programs cut by the welfare reform bill. Describes various activities to offset government cutbacks and ease hunger in America. (YKH)

Presents William J. Bennett's views on the influence parents can have on school design and the alienating effect on parents from schools when they are not part of the planning process. He offers the quasi-public school concept where community opinion influences the ultimate school design. (GR)

A decrease in community involvement in a substance-abuse prevention program for teens was attributed to lack of diversity in program planners (mostly health professionals) and awareness but lack of action among community members. The project worked to generate parent participation and ownership of the program. (SK)

Justifies the need for arts specialists in elementary schools. Utilizes the Dallas (Texas) Independent School District (DISD) to illustrate the problems of lacking an arts specialist and provides different alternatives for arts education. Depicts the different groups that are important to the cause of returning arts specialists to the schools.…

Describes an example of community music making in which middle school students, their parents, and a senior adult band all participated in a concert. Indicates the concert intended to celebrate the participants' musical accomplishments, gain support for music education, and demonstrate that music can provide joy for performers of all ages. (CMK)

When the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) was unveiled in 1991, schools faced a public supportive of change but unhappy with the tests' implications--measurement of school, not student performance. Teachers helped design a nationally normed test to complement MSPAP. The process involved listening, communication, and…

Considers research literature, which suggests that a learning community can be a powerful agent in helping students reflect on their beliefs, and that computer-mediated conferencing tools can be effective in developing an electronic learning community. Investigates a web-based intervention that encourages dialogue about mathematics between an…

Examines how service learning is being conceptualized by compositionists, particularly through the trope of community, to consider how it functions as a practice and topic in the discipline. Considers how educators position themselves and their students as practitioners of service-learning. Considers what the relationship of that learning to the…

Describes a community-based surveillance program for juvenile sex offenders that organizes and monitors continuous supervision for the youth by family and community members. The program also includes appropriate treatment and provides crisis intervention, while allowing the young people to remain with their families in their homes, schools, and…

Public deliberation is a little-used concept that gets people talking about education and working together to improve it. Study circles discuss each solution's pros and cons, explore people's deeper motivations, weigh others' views carefully, work through conflicting emotions, and identify common ground. Pueblo, Colorado's process is profiled.…

The author of "In the Shelter of Each Other" addresses how to remedy lack of community that is disorienting families. Parents work too many hours. Adults are spending too much time with TV and computers, voting down bond issues, and providing less communal space for children. Parents need to be convinced that creating community…

Describes a professional-development program that sustained the learning of science teachers from a small high school faculty over three years. The program was based on an Enhanced Action Learning process with three interrelated principles of reflection, community, and action. Teacher learning was also enhanced by feedback from students. Presents…

Two PTAs sponsored events that capitalized on Halloween themes, engaged their communities in fall celebrations, and were safe, wholesome, and fun. With help from local volunteers, one school turned its gymnasium into a 19th-century British town with a fall/Halloween theme. Another PTA hosted a carnival, Spooktacular, that involved community…

Public Agenda's recent study debunks five myths: only parents support the public schools; people think their community schools are performing well; those criticizing schools are clinging to an idealized past; people care little about poor, minority students' academic success; and most Americans distrust academic standards and standardized testing.…