This paper presents the results of interviews with staff from 64 community organizations regarding their experiences with service-learners. One of the themes that emerged from the interviews focused on concerns related to short-term service-learning commitments that last a semester or less. We explore the challenges presented to community groups…

Nestled in the mountains and surrounded by Christmas tree farms, Ashe County Middle School is a small, rural school in the far northwest corner of North Carolina. Recognized nationally for its fine academic and co-curricular programs, the school prepares students for high school and real-life situations by teaching important concepts, essential…

Despite evidence that service-learning projects can have positive effects on students' learning and civic engagement, such projects are not yet widely utilized in political science. This seems to be driven, in part, by the concern that service-learning projects may politicize students. In my Urban Politics and Policy class, I implemented a…

Sexuality education integrated into math, economics, and computer science classes? Parents participating with teachers and students in working groups to plan sex ed programs in public schools? Eight- to ten-year-olds publishing their own book "Don't Talk to Us about the Stork"? Does this sound utopian? Actually, it is a reality in…

This article accounts for a project that rests on a collaboration between the Leadership for Learning group at the Faculty of Education and the county council in King's Lynn and West Norfolk to address a concern regarding the low aspirations in the community. At the heart of the project was the development of a cadre of "Learning…

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge, chaired from 1995 to 1999 by Barack Obama, is being portrayed by John McCain's campaign as an attempt to push radicalism on schools. Founders of the project say it has been distorted in the presidential campaign. The project undertaken in Chicago as part of a high-profile national initiative reflected, however,…

Migrant English as a Second Language (ESL) has been an important form of rural adult education in the United States for decades. This chapter provides a national and historical overview of rural and migrant ESL. The educational needs of the growing population of seasonal, migrant agricultural workers are discussed and situated in relation to the…

Teaching cases are a valuable tool in preparing teachers and school administrators to engage effectively with families. Because the case method presents a story in practice, it offers students an active learning opportunity. Teaching cases involve real world situations and consider the perspectives of various stakeholders, including teachers,…

Partnerships between literacy teachers and community service workers have the potential to engage people with low literacy levels in learning. Through interviews and surveys with these two groups, this paper explores their views on literacy, how it impacts on their work, and their ideas about partnerships with each other. Overall, partnerships are…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Change Strategies and includes: (1) YA! Es Tiempo--The Courage to Connect (Maria "Cuca" Robledo Montecel); (2) Making…

This qualitative study used focus groups to identify the knowledge about the "Arts du Cirque" Program implemented in a primary school and to explore perceptions of its impacts. Data are based on the discourse of school staff members, parents and other members of the community of an elementary school. The impacts on students are…

This study examined the effects on academic achievement of offering students enrollment in the Promise Academy charter middle school. The school is sponsored by the Harlem Children's Zone[R], which combines reform-minded charter schools with a web of community services designed to provide a positive and supportive social environment outside of…

This collection of essays from the "Harvard Educational Review" offers historic examples of humanizing educational spaces, practices, and movements that embody a spirit of hope and change. From Dayton, Ohio, to Barcelona, Spain, this collection of essays from the "Harvard Educational Review" carries readers to places where…

This article describes the evolution of a partnership between Brooklyn College (BC) of the City University of New York (CUNY) and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) that ultimately resulted in the formal incorporation of the museum's online Seminars on Science (SoS) courses into master's degree programs at Brooklyn College for teachers…

It was the kind of crisis most universities dread. In November 2006, a group of minority student leaders at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) threatened to sue the university if administrators did not heed demands that included providing more funding for multicultural student groups. This article discusses how this threat…