This paper describes four considerations for policymakers who wish to have public schools serve as viable partners in the rural development efforts of their communities. First, schools are a community resource. When rural students are given opportunities to engage in community-based learning, they develop responsible citizenship and leadership…

Small schools offer many advantages and their numbers are increasing, but current funding practices often do not meet their needs. This digest suggests strategies that can help small public schools, particularly small rural schools, redress funding inequalities and get the resources they need. Three basic strategies for improving resources at…

A case study of a rural community in Western Australia examined factors responsible for the progress made in breaking down barriers between youth and adults and building community cohesiveness. Community documents and interviews with school personnel, students, and community members revealed that the high school worked with the community to build…

Educational reform poses problems for administrators in rural areas who have limited time and resources. This guide offers a process that can be used by rural administrators to engage the community in activities that will enhance children's success in the classroom and in their adult lives. Section 1 discusses the importance of community…

Drawing on testimonials and case studies, this collection of conference papers describes a variety of professional associations, organizations, and individuals working together for the benefit of our most fragile families and children. The 48 papers are divided into sections that: (1) express the vision at the core of partnerships phenomenon; (2)…

As part of a larger study of systemic educational reform in rural Alaska, this case study focuses on the early implementation of the Alaska Onward to Excellence (AOTE) school improvement process in Aniak and Kalskag, two villages of Kuspuk School District in southwestern Alaska. District residents are primarily Yup'ik Eskimos, although the hub…

This report is the sixth on future trends in early care and education undertaken by the Massachusetts Early Childhood Advisory Council since its inception in 1985. The report sets out a plan for a system of early care and education and family support in the state, fulfilling a requirement of the enabling legislation of the Community Partnerships…

This overview examines recent research and thinking about school size and bases discussion on two key assumptions: good schools can differ widely in size, and there is no such thing as "optimal" school size. Rather, the "right" size for a school depends on local conditions and contexts. School size means more than total student enrollment. Grade…

This guidebook is intended to assist the transition of Colorado students with developmental disabilities from school to post-school activities by promoting flexible and collaborative planning and service delivery among community-centered boards (CCBs), local education agencies, and other state and community agencies. First, a definition of…

Researchers report that fundamental reform is under way in perhaps one-third of Chicago public schools, involving more than 100,000 students. These sketches of schools where restructuring is taking place provide some clues to fundamental questions about educational change. The Chicago School Reform Act of 1988 established local school councils and…

This workbook was written to complement the training manual "Planning for Youth Success" (Dorfman and others, 2001). That manual outlines how family and community members can work with school staff and students to set standards for student success. This workbook lays a foundation for building partnerships to help facilitate that process. It is…

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, implemented through a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of Education and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, provides grants to communities to fund public schools as community education centers. The community education centers are intended to allow students after-school…

To examine the influence of Western perspectives on indigenous language teaching, a two-dimensional framework of approaches to language teaching is presented. A horizontal continuum concerning the nature of language ranges between form and function, and a vertical continuum concerning the nature of language learning ranges between construction and…

The Pennsylvania State Coalition for Adult Literacy's Building Communities for Learning (BCL) Project was conducted to improve the delivery of adult basic and literacy education services through interagency collaboration and community-based planning at the local level. The project awarded community-based planning grants to locales through a…

This article reviews some of the First Amendment issues that school boards and their legal counsel often encounter during a school board meeting. The discussion necessarily begins with a brief review of the public forum doctrine, under which is included the traditional public forum, the designated public forum, and the nonpublic forum. The article…