Explores interconnected movements to restructure school-family and school-community relationships, focusing on increased parental involvement in school governance, instructional partnerships, school-to-community outreach, and children's service coordination. Emphasizes the national crisis in urban children's lives, complementary societal…

Discusses efforts to coordinate services (mental health services in particular) for children and families, and reports initial findings of research by the Youth Law Center to identify specific characteristics of effective coordination programs. Sixteen characteristics of effective coordinated service programs have been identified. (SLD)

Reviews concerns about school-linked services programs, exploring institutional-based versus community-based models of service delivery. It is argued that the community is the appropriate context for providing and facilitating access to services and opportunities. Too strong an institutional bias runs the risk of limiting access and community…

We describe the psychosocial characteristics of youth with an average age of 11.8 years served in special education due to emotional disturbances in urban communities (N = 158). Data were also collected describing service utilization, academic functioning, and family characteristics. Ten schools in three mid-size urban cities participated. Results…

The evolution and implementation of a collaborative effort between an elementary school bilingual science education project (Process in Science Methods, or PRISM) of The Network, Inc., and a study of the educational effectiveness of community arts centers (Project Co-Arts) are described. With PRISM's focus on science and Co-Arts' concentration on…

This report describes activities and accomplishments of the Washington State Services for Children with Deaf-Blindness 3-year, federally supported program to provide technical assistance and training to families and service providers of approximately 140 children with deaf-blindness. Specific outcomes are listed for each of the project's 11…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the Tennessee Outreach Project for Children and Youth Experiencing Dual Sensory Impairments. The project was designed to improve the capacity of state, regional, and local educational services in meeting the needs of learners with deaf-blindness and their families. Major goals were to…

Both the Department of Education (ED) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) support a wide variety of studies of systemic and other educational reform in science, mathematics, and technology. Many of the studies have common or complementary purposes. To provide more comprehensive knowledge as a basis for decision making and to manage resources…

This report provides an analysis of those portions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related legislation relevant to the career preparation and employment status of individuals with cognitive impairments. It reviews government-sponsored evaluations and professional research in specific areas of labor and education and reports on a…

This report presents findings from the Task Force on U.S. Community Colleges, established by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1994 to identify and develop specific ways in which community colleges might help implement USAID's strategies for sustainable development. Following introductory materials, including an…

Many service systems have fundamentally reoriented services by creating infrastructures that link resources from many parts of the community. This paper reviews 50 comprehensive community-based initiatives and describes their costs, results, and methods of finance. The overview defines comprehensive community-based initiatives and outlines…

This resource guide assists Wisconsin educators in successfully including students with disabilities in school-to-work activities with appropriate support services. Section 1 provides an overview of the School to Work Opportunities Act and Wisconsin's state plan for developing a comprehensive school-to-work system integrated with federal efforts…

A study identified potential barriers to successful intra-institutional collaboration involving educators at secondary schools, community colleges, community education agencies, and higher education institutions. Twenty educators from various educational agencies in Alabama and Georgia were identified to be included in the interview process by…

The Decker Family Development Center in Barberton (Ohio) is a holistic "one-stop shop" that provides services to families who are at multiple risk. During its 5 years of operation, this center has developed a model that goes beyond cooperation into co-construction to empower stakeholders. This paper describes the center and its successes…

This handbook presents the essential components of a comprehensive family service system for low-income families. It shows, through the documentation and description of two low-income African American communities over 4 years of development work, the types of information that should be collected about community functioning so that informed…