Educational curricula have often been shaped more by worldwide standards and modern values than by national or regional influences and may, in some cases, be irrelevant to student and local community needs. This paper explores ways in which curricula can be adapted to a region's specific, social, political, and regional conditions. It begins with…

The role of the classroom teacher in the success of parent and community involvement efforts in American public schools is this document's focus. Because schools need to discover new ways to foster parental and community involvement in education, this document outlines a new perspective concerning parental and community involvement that…

Adolescents have a strong need to feel that they belong. This book relates the story of a nontraditional high school, at which the author was a part-time staff member during the 1987-88 academic year. Data were gathered from participant observation and from interviews with 23 teachers and staff members, 42 students, and 6 educational…

The faculty governance body in the College of Education at the University of Alabama is described. Analysis of archives resulted in the identification of four areas of authority in which faculty shared: participation in meetings, agendas, voting behavior, and issues considered by the body. Data revealed that generally half of all faculty,…

The information highway is an exciting place for children and families to visit, explore, and learn together. This book teaches parents basic knowledge about the Information Highway and how to use it with children. The following topics are covered in this book: (1) What is the Information Highway? (2) What is Telecommunications?; (3) Why You &…

As part of a larger ethnographic study, this book focuses on Mexican American family life, parental attitudes toward school, and efforts to increase student achievement by changing families. Exploration of the daily life of the 10 immigrant families sheds light on what educators have interpreted as the disinterest of newly arrived immigrants in…

Genuine educational reform depends on developing relationships with the home, community groups, politicians, and the business community (Seeley, 1981). This report is the third of three volumes that are products of a 3.5 year study of education reform, with a focus on the role of parent, family, and community involvement in the middle grades. The…

The Speech Department at New Jersey's Brookdale Community College conducted a study to determine if cooperative learning strategies could be effectively incorporated into a basic public speaking course to enhance student outcomes. The course was revised by reducing the number of speech performances and adding cooperative learning experiences.…

This document consists of the four issues of the "Journal of Educational Relations" published during 1995. The Journal's motto is "Promoting Student Achievement through Positive School-Home-Community Relationships." Articles in the first issue include: "Disarming Information: Ways to Counter Negative Critics" (Gerald Bracey); "Most Superintendents…

This volume contains 18 summaries of research on parental involvement, carried out by inservice teachers completing a Master's degree in multicultural studies. All but one of the participants were certified Texas teachers working in bilingual and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education. Their research critically examined many facets of the…

The methodology that has been used over the past 5 years to develop and implement the Parent Survey of the Department of Defense Dependents' Schools (DoDDS), known as the "Report Card from DoDDS Parents," is described. The focus is not on survey results, but on the processes and procedures used to design appropriate instruments, distribute and…

The impact of school-agency partnerships on the professional development of the agency personnel working with teachers on partnership teams was examined in a qualitative study of 18 of 157 natural resources, business, and health care agency professionals identified as having participated in elementary school-based partnerships for 1-6 years in a…

The Regents' Center for Early Developmental Education (University of Northern Iowa) focuses efforts on improving early childhood education (birth through 8 years) in Iowa by supporting educational efforts that emphasize children's interests, experimentation, and cooperation. In recent years, educational reform initiatives have targeted programs…

This annual journal issue contains 24 papers on issues of faculty development, instructional improvement, knowledge and teaching, and communication in higher education. Many of the papers were developed for the annual conference of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD). The papers are: (1) "Teaching…

This report analyzes data from the 1982, 1985, and 1992 Surveys of Public Participation in the Arts (SPPA). Analysis focuses on the role of race/ethnicity in arts participation. Arts participation is defined as involvement in a listed activity at least once in the past 12 months. Race is defined along categories used by the U.S. Bureau of Census.…