The school design process depends on open communication and the participation of various constituencies or customers. Today's architects use a variety of strategies to make sure they build the schools communities want. Describes approaches used by three architects. (MLF)

Analyzes a coordinated children's service project in Chicago's decentralizing the school system from an organizational change perspective. Identifies issues, problems, and lessons concerning school-site administration that emerge from combining policy initiatives designed to open schools to community influence while extending schools' service…

Discusses the first schoolwide symposium at Hendersonville High School (North Carolina) in which, for one week, students and faculty were immersed in the culture and history of the Vietnam War era. Explains that because this first symposium was so successful in gaining student enthusiasm, the school organized three more symposiums. (CMK)

Describes one public library's project of photographing teenagers reading around the library and making the photos into bookmarks with the library logo and a "read" message. Discusses the background, arrangements, photo session, assembly, distribution and publicity, and funding and community response. (AEF)

Describes the explosion in intergenerational programs linking school children and seniors in Ontario and in other Canadian provinces. Discusses program benefits, form and content of programs, service-reciprocity programs, age segregation in today's society, and social context for the increase in programs. United Generations Ontario is dedicated to…

Highlights the different forms of interdisciplinary teaching methods (integrated, related-arts, and correlated education) in order to provide a historical perspective of interdisciplinary education to art educators. Provides eight guidelines for future interdisciplinary programs in art education. Intends to prepare art educators for the…

Discusses the Reggio Emilia (Italy) approach to elementary education that uses the child's artwork as a guide to what the child knows, while the teacher acts as a facilitator. Describes a series of workshops that taught elementary educators in Des Moines (Iowa) how to implement this approach into their classrooms. (CMK)

Describes a three-year collaborative project, Investigating Our Community, involving teachers and fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. Focuses on moving from mandated curriculum that defines inquiry with known outcomes to inquiry that explores the unknown knowledge and stories of their school's neighborhood. Finds that a community investigation…

Argues that the "failure" of traditional writing instruction is actually its success, protecting the elite and maintaining inequality, which requires mass failure and illiteracy to preserve the unequal hierarchies now in place. Argues that bogus testing should be eliminated, basic writing mainstreamed into an expanded and untracked form of…

Although local community boards are not part of the governing structure of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS), local boards help presidents respond to the unique needs of their communities. Describes the structure of VCCS, why college boards are important to VCCS, and the contributions of college board members. (VWC)

Discusses the role of the Learning Partnerships Specialist (LPS) whose primary role is to increase children's capacities for learning and achievement by and through greater family and community involvement in education. Outlines the training plan for Learning Partnerships Specialists which is being introduced as a legislative proposal. Side bar…

In community schools, youth, families, and community residents work as equal partners with schools and other organizations to develop programs and services in five areas: quality education, youth development, family support, family and community engagement, and community development. Community schools foster strong partnerships and share…

Data on the 81 largest libraries in the "Public Library Data Service '96 Statistical Report" were examined to determine the validity of commonly held assumptions, namely that the age, educational level, and economic status of a community correlate, one way or another, with public library use and support in that community. No evidence to…

Defining "democracy" and determining compatible education practice is critical to school success. This article examines four definitions and articulates a fifth definition advocating a participatory, community-oriented democracy achieved through school and classroom structures and activities. Educators should develop their own working definitions…

Reviews proposals to reform the system by which public agencies receive and respond to reports of abuse and neglect, highlighting and describing one reform approach. The community-based partnership for child protection emphasizes targeting interventions by child protective services toward high-risk families while building collaborative community…