Describes an assistant superintendent's experience in developing and implementing similar school reform plans in two high school settings. The less affluent but more successful school tied its restructuring plans to Coalition of Essential Schools principles. The key elements for success were energy, vision, and faculty and community commitment.…

Presents planning lessons from the Community Involved Charter School, a Jefferson County (Colorado) grassroots initiative. Planners should seek community involvement in envisioning the school; define roles for students, parents, teachers, and community members; decide how to administer the school; decide on specifics, such as school size; and seek…

Describes the methods used by elementary school student parents, teachers, administrators, and the surrounding community to create an urban wildlife habitat in central Phoenix. The program is designed to increase the likelihood of students becoming environmentally responsible citizens. (LZ)

A study of the relationships of selected variables in 27 elementary schools in western Kentucky revealed significant relationships between student achievement and school climate, student socioeconomic status, and parent and community involvement. However, there was no relationship between school climate and student socioeconomic status. (LP)

Describes ways that groups and businesses involved in the urban forestry movement educate both the general public and specific audiences. Includes various lessons these groups seek to teach. (MCO)

The McLellan County (Texas) Cooperative for Exceptional Children emphasizes vocational training in community settings as well as domestic skills through the Living in Functional Environments program. Community-based instruction improves the transition not only to employment but to independent living and community participation for youth with…

Examines four works of art, created for public spaces, to help students understand the value of public art in the community. Illustrates work by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Siah Armajani, Jackie Ferrara, and Deborah Butterfield. Outlines lesson activities for elementary and secondary students. (KM)

Describes the Community-Based Arts Project in central New York State, which offers a course through Cornell University that allows students to explore local history and family traditions through storytelling. The steps of story collecting and sharing are a circular transaction of reflecting, listening, telling, and reflecting with the audience,…

Describes a new approach to school-based drug abuse prevention called Student Assistance Programs (SAP). SAP offers various approaches tailored to particular settings and includes students, teachers, parents, and community representatives who define and resolve student problems including substance abuse. SAP facilitates the use of 12-step…

The challenge of maintaining the richness of cultural diversity will be won or lost in the 1990s. Necessary ingredients include revamping curricula; building cadres through staff diversification, new teaching strategies, and teacher retraining; offering teachers incentives for community involvement and second-language study; and fostering parent,…

Describes the community participation facet of the eleventh-grade social studies curriculum for British Columbia. Proposes a four-stage model to identify, study, and propose recommendations about a community issue or problem. Suggests that social action based on empirical research improves social studies instruction. (CFR)

Literature review examines problems faced by homeless adults and children and discusses how recreation programs can serve them. The recreation and leisure profession can offer to the healthy child development through play and recreation, physical fitness, stress management, socialization, opportunities to learn goal-setting, self-esteem building,…

Prison Fellowship Ministries' church and community based Transition of Prisoners (TOP) program in Detroit is examined. TOP mobilizes, trains, and equips primarily African-American churches and volunteers to assist ex-offenders to successfully reintegrate into their community. Preliminary outcome data suggest that participation in TOP reduces need…

The National Park Service's applied ethnography program promotes democratic decision making in park planning, resource management, and interpretation by communities with a stake in agency decisions. Ethnographic research has contributed to historical interpretation of slavery in plantation parks, cultural interpretation of traditional Native…

Illustrates uses and benefits of geographic-information systems (computer-generated maps) for practice, administration, and research in social services. By mapping the location of problems, a service strategy sensitive to the community can be developed. Examples involving child-care agencies demonstrate how outreach and service issues can be…