Noting that children learn through active involvement and concrete experiences as well as through dialogue about these experiences, this book provides instructional guidelines and class activities to assist the cognitive, social, creative, personal, and physical development of young children based on early childhood research and theory. Chapter 1…

Public financing for education and an array of other children's services has become a topic of significant political concern. This toolkit is intended to assist state and local leaders, who are charged with writing bills and formulating legislative strategies, to create state/community partnerships that will facilitate the development of…

This report evaluates the Okiyapi Community Partnership, a 5-year federally funded program that aimed to reduce alcoholism on the Devils Lake Sioux Reservation in rural North Dakota. The major goals of the project included development of an interagency coordinating body, establishment of family circle groups, and training of Native American…

This instructional unit is aimed at Grade 4, limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, music, art, physical education, and drama. It uses the California "Gold Rush" historical time period to teach students English language, concentrating on pre-production, early production, speech…

This report describes Blalock FIRST, a 3-year collaborative research project designed to improve literacy skills of low-income, African American families living in a severely depressed urban housing project. Project implementation, and antecedents to the implementation, are described. Objectives of the project were to: (1) increase achievement in…

This report examines the use of community-based support to facilitate curriculum renewal efforts in small rural school districts. Interviews with educators from five school districts in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington describe three approaches to curriculum renewal: community-initiated approaches, state-directed reform efforts, and…

Policy established by the Manitoba (Canada) provincial government to inform the development and implementation of heritage language programs is outlined. Introductory sections provide background on the history of heritage language instruction, foreign language instruction, and language of instruction in Manitoba public schools. A brief discussion…

This report characterizes the current state of community service in the United States, discusses actions the Commission on National and Community Service has taken, and sketches some alternatives for the future. An executive summary presents the main themes of the report. Chapter 1 describes the promise of national and community service for the…

This paper analyzes the ways in which the Cleveland (Ohio) Hispanic community, made up mostly of Puerto Ricans, has been organizing to increase its involvement in the education of Hispanic youth. In particular, this paper focuses on the past 3 years when new styles of involvement were attempted. This involvement has taken the form of program…

In January 1991, the National School Readiness Task Force was formed to promote the national goal of assuring that all children start school ready to learn. This report presents the Task Force's considerations and recommendations based on research reviews and interviews with practitioners nationwide. Following a brief discussion of the Task Force…

The Kansas State Board of Education's Quality Performance Accreditation system is described. Unlike past accreditation methods, which focused on the facilities or institutional characteristics, Quality Performance Accreditation accredits schools based on student performance. Through the accreditation process, the state will establish the same high…

Based on visits to 11 schools in 6 urban areas across the country, this article describes the perspectives and behavioral responses of school staff to "reaching out" policies that lead schools to form partnerships with parents and community organizations for the purpose of enhancing children's development and academic achievement. All of…

This program guide documents a custodial job family curriculum that develops competence in generic work force education skills through business writing/clerical skills and reading and writing courses. An annotated table of contents lists a brief description of the questions answered in each section. An introduction presents a program abstract and…

This program guide documents an equipment operator's job family curriculum that develops competence in generic work force education skills through Commercial Driver's License minicourses. An annotated table of contents lists a brief description of the questions answered in each section. An introduction presents a program abstract and a guide…

This second interim report presents evaluation results from Project Youth Experiencing Success (YES) and documents a decrease in the Virginia statewide event-dropout rate in grades 7 through 12 from 4.8 percent during the 1988-89 school year to 3.3 percent during the 1991-92 year. Event-dropout rates measure the proportion of students who drop out…