This report explores the insights and experiences of activists who build strong constituencies to reform public schools. It presents data from a 2-year study involving the seven primary constituency and coalition building grantees of the Ford Foundation's Constituency Building for Public School Reform Initiative. Data were collected from 14…

Integrated school-community projects benefit both the rural community and the rural school in many ways. On the community side, such projects can stimulate the local economy, improve the quality of life, and strengthen the bonds of community. Schools gain resources and community support for educational initiatives, have the opportunity to develop…

Description of a community program in cooperation with a regional extension service. The goals were to explore the generation gap, and conflict in life values, understand family role, increase self awareness, improve adult-youth communication, and understand the individual and his relationship to basic social principles. (Author/JB)

Author, a newspaper editor, notes remoteness of many school administrators and teachers from community, leading them to assume support for school programs--and taxes--which does not exist. Seven suggestions point towards improving public relations and regaining parental cooperation. (PD)

Describes Maryland's extensive network of day care centers for severely mentally retarded children. Specific characteristics, stipulated for all the programs, are reviewed. (Author/AJ)

Eleven articles examine the contributions being made by the Regional Educational Laboratories in developing and testing innovative learning materials. (MM)

Presents a rationale for the role of the school media program and staff in community education and an exploration of valid program input. (Author)

To meet the diverse needs of children in the public schools in California, the State Superintendent stresses the importance of cooperation between local, state, and federal authorities in intelligent allotment of funds, and also, with cooperation between parents and teachers, identifying problems and providing necessary services to children. (JD)

This column, the last in a series of articles dealing with partnerships in educating young children, focuses on partnerships developed with communities. Examples of the importance of community partnerships--including provision of comprehensive services to meet student interests--welfare reform issues, and the need to be politically active are…

Describes a special Head Start initiative called Free to Grow: Head Start Partnerships to Promote Substance-Free Communities. Notes five such Head Start programs in Puerto Rico, Kentucky, California, Colorado, and New York that have designed substance abuse prevention models to strengthen families and neighborhoods by providing a healthy…

Describes the 10-year process in which Hagerstown Junior College (HJC) (Maryland) underwent a transition from a passive institution to a proactive agent for community renewal. Indicates that HJC redefined its civic purpose and executed its agenda through community-based programming and the facilitation of community problem solving. Includes 15…

Rural Australian health services have great difficulty completing complex competitive submissions for health funding. A collaborative, capacity building approach between a local university and six rural communities in Victoria proved effective in enabling the communities to research their own needs; consult with stakeholders; and develop a…

The planning of a community-based accident prevention program in a rural Queensland (Australia) community is described. The process involved the establishment of a local steering committee, data collection, presentation of findings, determination of priorities, review of the evidence, description of target group, exploration of problem and…

Suggests strategies for reviving small rural communities. Discusses community development meetings, developing effective leadership, and involving youth and women. Discusses importance of development programs, effective media, good educational systems, and other community institutions. Emphasizes important role of local youth programs, schools,…

Today's social problems (including dysfunction, destruction, and disintegration) mirror the communities in which students live. Peer programs in schools can link youths with healthy communities and help enrich, enliven, and empower students to become productive members of a caring society. (SM)