The Points of Light Foundation suggests numerous family volunteering activities during the December holiday season. Categorized according to opening heart and home, music and entertainment, holiday meals and treats, arts and crafts, transportation/delivery, and the environment, the activities could also be adapted for school or school-family use.…

Although adolescents face many potentially life-threatening choices, schools are ill equipped to offer comprehensive guidance for developing personal survival skills. This article outlines four conditions militating against schools' acceptance of this role, advocates collaboration between schools and community-based youth organizations, and…

IQ scores and disability labels can sentence certain children to lifelong failure. MAPS (Making Action Plans) is a collaborative process that brings the key actors in a child's life together to create an action plan to be implemented in a regular classroom setting. This article describes MAP's eight-step planning process. Sidebars describe MAP's…

Discussion of reasons for the coproduction of television programing focuses on financial needs and arrangements. The coproduction process is examined, including editorial aspects and the rights of broadcasters and distributors; and the future of coproduction is discussed. (LRW)

Describes collaboration between two urban intermediate schools and Graduate School of Bank Street College of Education (New York City), highlighting need to change teacher attitudes about teaching, learning. Bureaucratic and cultural supports must be present to effect change, including time for teachers to talk together, administrative support,…

In 1986, Lilly Endowment launched Middle Grades Improvement Program as a major initiative to meet young adolescents' needs. This article describes development of the MGIP's "building public support" component. A survey of Indiana schools involved with this component showed that most districts developed new programs involving schools,…

Reading instruction should not be limited to individual pursuits of students performing daily assignments according to routine classroom schedules. Reading needs a broader social context offering endless opportunities for shared learning among students, parents, and teachers. Article describes how Illinois' Alliance for Achievement works to…

Family literacy programs are a collaborative effort of adult basic education, early childhood/elementary education, and parent education. The key factor is parent education, focusing on application and generalization of learned skills to family life and providing services to minimize barriers to participation. (SK)

Demonstrates how the joint efforts of industry (a nuclear-powered electric company) and a university (Northern Illinois University) can provide advanced education to place-bound student employees. Explores values and ethics related to the project, including faculty qualifications, teacher-student relationships, testing and evaluation standards,…

The Cooperative Educational Administration Internship Program at the University of New Mexico has received remarkable support from cooperating school districts, participating interns, mentoring site administrators, and the university's education faculty. Because its primary financing depends on program participants, the Danforth Foundation program…

During the 1992-93 school year, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory conducted study of rural schools in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas that were using one kind of telecommunications technology: full-motion interactive video. Many schools were at risk of being closed because they could not provide education comparable to that available in…

Facilitating communication and cooperation between principals and teachers, between principals and administrators, and among principals themselves can be accomplished by using a peer support system based on clustering. Fort Bend (Texas) Independent School District has benefited by creating 5 clusters of 8 to 10 elementary and secondary principals…

Pennsylvania's Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit built a collaborative 2-week summer academy, opening it to students in the other 14 school districts in the county. Cooperation among all the districts provided students opportunities for expanded learning experiences. (MLF)

Examines how one college developed a partnership with the city's professional hockey team to build an ice rink that would benefit the team, the university, and the community. The construction process is briefly described, and other renovations that occurred as a result of the project are highlighted. (GR)

The theme in this special section is computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL). The papers mark the development of computer-supported cooperative work and give a diversity of perspectives in the field, representing a range of interests and concerns. (AEF)