Explores mentoring, and examines the gap between claims advanced for mentoring and actual experience. Mentoring at the present often suffers from fervor without infrastructure. Principles are given for building supportive infrastructure and creating environments rich in mentors that relieve a single person from the weight of super-mentoring. (SLD)

Jumpstart, a homegrown before-school tutoring program piloted at a Massachusetts school, has proven successful with at-risk first graders. Implemented as a low-cost alternative to Reading Recovery and Success for All programs, the 18-week action-research project employed 11 inclusion and Title I aides as volunteers. (MLH)

Analyzes data about (Hong Kong) parents' and school personnel's perceptions on parental participation in varied school activities. Most school staff demonstrated unwelcome attitudes toward parent involvement; parents disliked being school managers. Both groups favored separate school-management responsibilities. A school-based management strategy…

Thumbnail sketches of four schools in Edmonds School District (Washington) illustrate ways they have built strong parent and community relationships: parent volunteers in a parent-cooperative school; a family-oriented neighborhood school; a school offering school-based health and social services; and a Cyberschool that provides resources to…

In addition to conventional methods of easing leadership transition in student activities organizations (orderly transfer of significant organizational knowledge, minimizing confusion, sense of completion for outgoing leaders, identification of potential leaders, careful nominee selection), retreats are recommended as a means of creating shared…

Describes community-connected learning, an approach where community members become teachers and mentors in their local schools. Highlights include examples of projects; use of technology, including the Web; project-based curriculum; understanding the importance of community-responsive organizations and volunteerism; internships at local…

Dichotomy between students' attitudes and their actions is highlighted in data collected by Cooperative Institutional Research Program that shows students' interest in keeping up with politics is declining just as their participation in volunteerism is rising. Author interviews Paul Rogat Loeb, author of "Soul of the Citizen," about potential…

Introduces the concept of service learning, defines it in contrast to volunteerism or internships, describes how the program ties in with the academics of the classroom, and addresses the benefits service learning provides to students, faculty, and community agencies. Delineates the flexibility and creativity of such programs, and expands upon…

The primary aim of this study was to determine whether naturalistic, interpersonal contact with persons with a severe mental illness (SMI) could reduce stigma. Participants from the agency Compeer (which pairs volunteers with people with SMI) were compared to volunteers from a control agency and to nonvolunteer participants from the community on…

Students who participate in community outreach programs develop a positive awareness for civic duty and observe applications of their learning. Teachers and students discover the most vivid benefits of service learning when they participate themselves. Students are energized and the school builds a stronger link with the community. In this…

The purpose of this project was to improve the literacy skills of at-risk children enrolled at Frayser Elementary School in Memphis (Tennessee) by involving parents in school activities at home and at school. Parents were invited to participate in a series of workshops on tips for reading with children and were encouraged to use these skills in…

The Learn and Serve Grant Program was designed to support schools and community-based organizations (CBOs) that engage children and adolescents in service activities linked to the school curriculum that address real community needs. An evaluation covered 93 Pennsylvania schools and CBOs that received funding to design and implement programs.…

The materials in this packet were designed for the rapid Cebuano language training of Peace Corps volunteers, focusing on daily communication needs in this context. The packet contains: lists of common phrases, expressions, and vocabulary on a variety of topics related to Peace Corps work; a list of core competencies for specific topics…

This guide provides ideas and procedures to help agencies in providing services to children and families through the home-based program option of Head Start. It is designed to assist program administrators who are beginning Head Start Home-Based programs for the first time as well as those seeking to strengthen existing programs. The chapters are:…

This document contains a project report and tutor manual from a demonstration project conducted by the Fayette County Community Action Agency (FCCAA) of Fayette County, Pennsylvania to evaluate the effectiveness of using computers and selected reading software in conjunction with traditional one-on-one tutoring to teach reading skills to…