Choice in education gained popularity as a means by which families can become involved in the education of their children. This case study addresses how the interests, needs, and objectives of secondary school students, and their parents as reported by the students, resulted in the choice between two high schools in a suburban district with a…

The principles and practices of successful parent centers in urban schools are presented so that parents and staff can use them when developing a center. The successful center begins with adoption of a model or philosophy to guide parents and staff. An interactive learning model is suggested as the most workable one, and its principles are…

The Arcadia Commons (AC), in Kalamazoo, Michigan, is a business-education park developed through the combined efforts of Kalamazoo Valley Community College (KVCC), area business and financial institutions, and the Kalamazoo Public Museum, who together formed Downtown Kalamazoo Incorporated (DKI). KVCC's involvement resulted from the need to find…

Based on conclusions of a 1993 meeting of national leaders in higher education (the Wingspread Group on Higher Education), this book charges that higher education is not meeting society's needs and suggests fundamental areas for attention. It sees demographic, economic and technical changes as increasing the importance of good higher education for…

This report to the community provides an overview of the programs, services, faculty, staff, and students at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) in Kansas for 1997-98. Messages from the President and the Chair of the Board of Trustees open the report and are followed by an outline of JCCC's mission, which focuses on general education, degree…

This book describes the important theoretical ideas of critical pedagogy and explains how to put strategies consistent with them into practice. Chapter 1 explores Ivan Illich's Deschooling Society (1970) and his work highlighting ways in which institutions and conventional approaches to education are failing ordinary men and women. In contrast,…

Intended to foster program-to-program learning from within the Head Start community about how programs infuse a mental health perspective into Head Start, this report highlights strategies generated by seven Head Start programs to better meet the changing and intensifying mental health needs of Head Start children, families, and staff. The report…

This paper presents practical options for school development in relation to vocational education ranging from small and specific steps to larger whole school change. Chapter 1 describes the context. Chapter 2 highlights three interlocked imperatives to attain this objective: a comprehensive and well-structured educational program that deals…

This paper suggests that the fundamental characteristics of a sustainable community are economic security, ecological integrity, quality of life, and empowerment and responsibility. It also asserts that nurturing these characteristics within a rural school can forge stronger links to community, strengthen the local economic base, encourage…

This paper discusses the REAL (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning) model as a necessary component of rural school-to-work (STW) programs. In rural areas where opportunities for traditional STW approaches (such as apprenticeships) are limited, entrepreneurial education teaches students to be job creators, not just job applicants. This…

In 1996, the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) established a Planning Task Force to prepare a plan that would address the establishment and strengthening of linkages between non-credit programs, especially those in English as a Second Language (ESL) and Transitional Studies (TS), and other CCSF and city programs. The task force used focus…

This paper discusses Cuesta College's (California) technology plan, outlining the principles, goals, and strategies that support the college's ultimate goals of keeping curricula current, increasing student success, and providing learning options. The college's goals/principles and sub-goals are listed, and include: (1) promoting a campus climate…

This guidebook discusses the importance of building consensus in establishing outcomes for community reform to improve the well-being of children and youth, their families, and neighborhoods and communities. The guide is grounded in the premise that community collaboratives have the capacity to develop a set of measurable outcome indicators and…

This research report evaluates a 2-year effort to achieve home-school partnerships and success for all children at two urban schools: P.S. 111 in New York City and the Ellis School in Boston. As conceptualized by the Institute for Responsive Education staff, the process of achieving success for all children required the transformation of school…

School-based enterprise (SBE) is a hands-on educational program in which students create and manage a business in their community. SBE programs address two general concerns about education today--lack of student motivation and the need for schools to teach students the skills to survive in and contribute to their communities. SBE makes the…