Vermont's I-Team has provided technical assistance and training to educational team members serving children with disabilities for 25 years. Characteristics of sustainable human services programs include flexibility, collaborative consultation, consideration and inclusion of families and communities, competent management, on-going training for all…

Despite increasing interest in the role of community involvement in school improvement, few studies have examined motivations for, or results of community partnership development in high schools. To fill this gap, the authors conducted case studies of three high schools with successful community partnerships. The authors found that case high…

In many reports, scholars describe parent involvement in schools by focusing on the influence parents have on their children's learning or on the educators' perspective of parent involvement (e.g., Norton, 2003). This article looks at the issue through a different lens. It focuses on the nature of parents and community engagement in schools that…

This article explores the effects of the integration of diversity, service learning, and professional development school partnerships in preparing preservice teachers to understand and address discriminatory practices in school settings. Background information, challenges, and successes of this professional development school partnership between a…

During the last three years, Lincoln Middle School has been the site of a Professional Development School partnership in conjunction with the Illinois State University Middle School Department. With more than 90% of its 400-plus students receiving free or reduced price lunches, Lincoln is an eight-year-old, "Title I" building whose…

The purpose of this study was to explore my appreciation for the "constructivist theory" for which an epistemological stance is expressed as an educational ideology, or referred to as constructivism; essentially to construct one's own knowledge. Six energetic five-year-old boys from an urban public school, located within a mid-western…

"Too Good for Violence" promotes character values, social-emotional skills, and healthy beliefs of elementary and middle school students. The program includes seven lessons per grade level for elementary school (K-5) and nine lessons per grade level for middle school (6-8). All lessons are scripted and engage students through…

S. Redding noted the many challenges facing research and researchers in family-school-community involvement, and he presented a call to "rally the troops" to respond to a series of concerns. The issue of control over defining the role of schools should be a shared enterprise among the family, the school, and the community, with the individual…

This study examined the effects of public service advertising from two theoretical backgrounds: social learning theory and social control theory. Traditional social learning theory assumes that learning occurs by subjects performing responses and experiencing their effects, with reinforcement as the main determinant. Social control theory, as…

This paper examines the frequency and purpose of interactions between rural students and teachers at the Brisbane School of Distance Education. Research regarding distance education indicated that: (1) both the school community and rural community significantly influence teacher-student interactions; (2) the student population represents diverse…

In 1994, as Chicago (Illinois) completed the fifth year of school reform under the Chicago School Reform Act, the Consortium on Chicago School Research launched its third and fourth surveys of teacher and student responses to change. In all, 39,000 students, 6,200 elementary school teachers, and 2,600 high school teachers completed the surveys.…

What is being done at a local level, in the neighborhood, to prevent and discourage small-time drug dealers is discussed. Partnerships of law enforcement and grassroots citizens' groups are working in many places to reduce the availability and impact of drugs in their communities. The book opens with a discussion of drug use and the urban…

This report offers a synthesis of a Special Issues Analysis Center report based on a focus group that studied active learning and its implications for limited English proficient (LEP) students. Active learning is defined as the level of engagement by the student in the instructional process; it implies the development of a community of learners…

Designed to improve Massachusetts' children's healthy development and success in school, this plan discusses high quality early care and education programs that are responsive to the needs and preferences of families, and that provide parenting education and family literacy and support. The goal of the plan is to create a coordinated system of…

Noting the improvement in schools and education that occurs when parents, educators, and the community get involved, this "partners' activity kit" is intended to raise public awareness about what students in the schools need, and describes ways that anyone in the community can fill a role in improving education. Following an invitation…