In May 2000, the United States Department of Labor awarded sizable Youth Opportunity (YO) Grants to 36 high-poverty urban, rural, and Native American communities. These communities were among the most economically distressed communities in the nation, all characterized by high drop out rates, high youth unemployment rates, greater incidence of…

The Black Heritage Public Library in Findlay, Ohio was begun by Nina Parker in 1981 to fill the gaps of black representation in American history and literature. The mission of one woman to counter the biased representation in local schools and present African-American history as a crucial piece of American history previously denied to all…

This book discusses the inclusion of children with disabilities in general education settings and provides accounts of successful inclusive school communities. A prologue by Michael S. Berres is titled "All Children, All Schools." Chapter 1, "Is It Inclusion Yet? Bursting the Bubbles" (Dianne L. Ferguson), reviews the status of…

The primary tasks of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) sponsored research projects taken from Department of Education (DOE) Requests for Proposals from March 1990 are listed, and extracts from winning proposals are presented. As reflected in the list of topics of the 17 Centers that OERI announced it would fund, educational…

Summarizing what is known about reading teaching and learning, this booklet gives those people who must make decisions about reading instruction the most recent and reliable information available from research and practice. Sections of the booklet address such topics as what reading is and why it is important; the status of the "Great…

These elementary school lessons plans in English and Spanish are described to offer assistance in basic study skills on California history/social studies using multilingual, primary source documents, such as photos, maps, newspaper articles, and pictures, and copies of official documents for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students. Four basic…

This report includes an executive summary and describes results of a 1988 study of transition activities provided by public schools to enhance the continuity experienced by children as they move from preschool, day care, home, or other previous experience into kindergarten. Chapter 1 offers background information, including definitions of terms,…

This guide, volume four of a six-part series, describes several community-outreach methods and provides practical outreach suggestions that are based on experience, as well as typical problems and the ways practitioners have chosen to resolve them. The guide is divided into three parts. Part 1 focuses on recruitment. Specific topics cover ways of…

This manual contains materials for a 2-week workshop to train extension staff and community leaders working at the village level in the Solomon Islands. The aim of the course is to improve participants' skills so they are better able to help communities and community groups design and manage community projects. An introduction addresses the team…

A program designed to provide input from young people to local governments in California, and to expand participation of young people and families in community affairs, is presented in this proposal. Funding is sought in the proposal to develop materials to implement a pilot program in San Diego County (CA) that would involve more than 100,000…

A questionnaire survey of rural school teachers (225) and principals (40) attempted to identify skills and characteristics which teachers need to be successful in rural schools; interviews of 32 teachers in 13 rural schools and of 27 rural school trustees were also conducted. Recent literature on training of teachers for rural schools was…

The Department of Education's (ED) rural education/rural family education policy for the 80's includes strengthened efforts to insure that rural education shall receive an equitable share of information, services, assistance, and funds available through ED and its programs. The Department will assist educators in developing outreach and volunteer…

A partnership between the College of Education of the University of South Carolina, the Salkehatchie Consortium of schools, International Business Machines, and families and schools in Allendale, South Carolina, and Estill, Denmark was formed in an effort to implement a project designed to enhance the school success of at-risk elementary school…

This paper focuses on a community's educational improvement project in Tennessee that resulted from executive appointment of a citizen task force in each community. The paper reports project development and results; discussion emphasizes implications for school administrators. A joint task force, appointed in 1985, was directed to develop…

Changing population patterns, inflated housing costs, and cuts in school financing have forced many school districts to face school closures and school consolidation as a way of maintaining solvency. This report reviews the literature on school consolidation with attention to the fact that the need to consolidate now faces elementary schools as…