Educators today may find a historical review of the Howard Players at Howard University (Washington, D.C.) in the 1920s important because of its implicit commentary on what constitutes community. While the Howard Players are generally written about in terms of the development of an African-American theater, historians ought also to think of their…

Even within the perceived homogeneity of the American hinterlands, a plethora of social issues and concerns threaten contemporary society. Among applied communicators, and especially among public relations practitioners, increasingly complex relationships must be satisfactorily nurtured so that people and institutions can be helped to seek…

Reaffirming that all students, regardless of home language or socioeconomic background, can and must have an equal opportunity to excel in reading, this booklet presents 10 recommendations that form the basis of a comprehensive and balanced reading program to help children in California learn to read. Recommendations in the booklet address: (1)…

This document provides suggestions for community volunteer opportunities that involve students in partnerships with service agencies, governments, recycling programs, and environmental organizations. It consists of ready-to-copy project ideas complete with case studies, a set of worksheets for planning a project, and an appendix with additional…

The Arizona Journey Schools Program (JSP) was a two-year professional development experience whose stated purpose was to build the leadership capacity of school/community teams and establish a network of professionals to support teams as they bring about systemic change in mathematics and science teaching, learning, and assessment. This report…

To educate young people to be productive citizens and to ensure that the democratic objective of equality is realized, service learning must adopt an alternative paradigm that promotes the ideals and values of participatory democracy. Three problematic assumptions of service learning are that (1) good citizenship requires students to "give" back…

Reforming schools involves change and, like all change, it faces opposition. This 2-part report is designed to help local school and community leaders involved in education who are experiencing growing opposition to school improvement efforts. The first part includes materials and resources educational leaders can use to promote change. Each entry…

This report reviews government-funded, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) projects for adults at three schools: in Arlington (Virginia) public schools, in an El Paso (Texas) community college, and in the Massachusetts Department of Education. The Arlington Adult Learning System (AALS) demonstrated how coordination by a community-based…

Although some businesses have provided employer-supported child care for decades, these efforts have been exceptional rather than part of a mainstream effort. Obstacles to employer-supported child care in the early 1980s included: (1) the view that work and family were separate; (2) negative perceptions of women's increased involvement in the…

Many scholars have examined the jeremiad in American rhetoric and political discourse. The Hanford Education Action League (HEAL), which influenced policy changes in the operations of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, is a social movement organization whose founding members used the jeremiad to create a symbolic community which…

This handbook presents guidelines and the rationale for creating a school violence committee. The committee is composed of Washington Education Association (WEA) members and addresses issues related to school safety. The committee defines the problem, sets goals for reaching solutions, and implements an action plan. Members may also review…

This bulletin describes the success of a partnership between the National Training and Dissemination Program (NTDP) and the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (Tennessee). Beginning in October, 1992, the NTDP provided Nashville with technical, staff, and financial assistance as well as law-related education (LRE) resources. Nashville schools…

This book describes the experiences of an inexperienced young teacher who, with the support of parents and teenagers in a Los Angeles (California) neighborhood, created a one-room schoolhouse and began to teach 30 gang members, ranging in age from 13 to nearly 20. He had no teaching credentials or college degree and the school had a tiny budget,…

This booklet is one in a series of publications designed to support the efforts of community sustainability advocates. It describes five activities through which community members can work together to apply sustainability principles to community development initiatives. Guidelines are provided for organizing and conducting a 6-hour workshop for…

The League of Schools Reaching Out is a national project to show how family/community/school partnerships can contribute significantly to school restructuring. It aims to increase the academic and social success of all children, especially those society labels as at risk. The league is attempting to expand the notion that the internal methods,…