Are England's Education Action Zones an innovative approach to combating educational underachievement in disadvantaged areas? An examination of the EAZ director's role and functions shows it is possible for zones to pursue a more broadly based, innovative, and longer-term strategy for delivering government-mandated improvements. (MLH)

Explains how public-private partnerships can provide the impetus to revitalize a community. A public-private partnership developed in St. Louis, Missouri, illustrates how the partners' vested interest in the project leads to its success. (GR)

Conjoint behavioral consultation is a structured indirect form of service delivery in which parents, teachers, and other support staff are joined to work together to address the academic, social, or behavioral needs of an individual for whom all parties bear some responsibility. Presents outcome data from four years of projects in the area of…

This article describes how in Alameda County, California, the Children's Hospital Oakland (CHAO) Neonatal Follow-up Program and the County Public Health Department have collaboratively addressed gaps in services for premature infants and their families through the Special Start initiative. Mental health specialists, health specialists, and…

A study is reported that investigates the relationship between career decision status, quantity and quality of work experience obtained by university students. Career decision status is the term used to capture an individual's level of decidedness and comfort with their career decisions and the reasons underlying this state (Jones & Lohmann,…

Although educational leaders may be optimistic about initiating change, lasting reforms are rare. The group polarization literature, although dated, provides an important explanation for a very current problem. The theory holds that when there are differences of opinion to begin with, a counter-conformity effect works among members of groups.…

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)/Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)/Young Adult Library Service Association (YALSA) Joint Task Force on School/Public Library Cooperative Activities has been collecting and disseminating information about cooperative activities around the country since the first meeting in January…

This booklet presents the inspirational stories of 31 people who were served by Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs in Illinois. Their stories reflect the mission and success of JTPA in Illinois and illustrate how these 31 individuals with diverse backgrounds--school dropouts, teen parents, former substance abusers, welfare recipients,…

A year-long study evaluated the scope and quality of pre-16 work experience in England and Wales. Its main aims were to map out work experience provision, assess program quality, and examine the impact of new funding. The research included a survey of area work experience coordinators, six detailed case studies, interviews with teachers from 30…

Based on extensive fieldwork and documentary analysis undertaken during the course of the documentation and evaluation of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement's (OERI) Educational Partnerships Program (EPP), two hypotheses are offered, based on interactionist theory, to explain the differences between school-to-work partnerships and…

This document presents information needed for development of contractual or cooperative arrangements between local school districts and other agencies and programs in Kentucky in order to better serve preschool children who are at risk of educational failure or who have identified disabilities. After an introductory section, the Preschool…

To inform decision-making regarding distance learning courses and options, two surveys were conducted in 1993. One, completed by 288 secondary and postsecondary institutions serving deaf learners, asked about interest in course offerings by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf and Rochester Institute of Technology (NTID/RIT). The other,…

In response to states' serious shortcomings in preparing pupils for the work force, this decade has seen an explosion of new contracts between schools and outside individuals and organizations. This report focuses on business-school partnerships, specifically what makes them work well and how they influence education and business. Partnerships…

Recent reform documents have identified practitioners' lack of awareness and implementation of exemplary, innovative practices, and major national associations have noted the ongoing gap between research and practice. The literature supports collaborative action research and teacher researchers as methods to expand the base of educational research…

This report resulted from a qualitative research site visit to the Madison Mutual Housing Association and Cooperative in Madison, Wisconsin. The agency was selected due to its reputation for inclusive efforts to provide housing to a broad constituency including people of differing abilities, ages, income levels, and ethnic backgrounds. The Madison…