The procedure for setting educational goals described in this booklet, the first of three, is based on the belief that only through a school-community partnership can the best solutions be found and supported. It is also based on the belief that goal setting can proceed only after local needs are known. The booklet outlines in considerable detail…

Educational policies are discussed which are directed at affecting the incentives of a school superintendent or other executive officers of an operating school system, staff members in the administrative office, principals or other executive officers in a school, teachers, pupils, and their parents. A number of proposals for the modification of…

Reputational and pluralistic methods of community analysis differ; their findings, conclusions, and philosophies are frequently at variance. Reputationalists find an economically dominated power elite. They picture a community's power and influence structure as pyramidal -- the power elite forming a monolithic power pyramid. Thus, according to…

The object of this study, conducted in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, School District, was to examine whether or not the urban elementary school administrator's assessment of the community's ability to reward or punish is a significant factor in his perception of his own role performance, his leadership style, and his work with the community and…

Does homework work? Homework is the cause of more friction between school and home than any other aspect of education and becomes the prime battlefield when schools, families, and communities view one another as adversaries. This comprehensive third edition tackles all the tough questions: What's the right amount of homework? What role should…

Discusses a study conducted among Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White women to: (1) identify the factors related to intention to report/not report a rape to various people; and (2) ascertain the usefulness of Fishbein's model of behavioral intentions, which consists of "perceived outcomes" and "perceived expectations" components,…

Factors related to dropping out were examined among Northern Cheyenne and Crow high school students living in three southeastern Montana communities and attending a Catholic school, a public school, or a tribal school. Place of residence, parental educational attainment, and school experiences were important variables, but their effects varied by…

Interviews with parents, students, and staff members at a school of 850 seventh and eighth graders yielded a set of 8 fairly universal guidelines for creating and maintaining a safe learning environment. The high expectations the school had for its students was one response that was unanimous. (MLF)

This survey of public secondary schools examined factors that affected the outcome (i.e., retention, restriction, or removal) of censorship challenges to library materials. Factors found to influence outcome included oral versus written challenges, materials selection policy use, school environment, community environment, and media specialist…

I examine the concept of the community field to identify the structures, elements, and processes that generate improved capacity for community action. I conduct analysis of interlocking leadership among local organizations and recent community action in three Midwestern communities to determine the structure and attributes of the community field.…

In order to help school-age English language learners (ELLs) develop the literacy competencies required for success at school, it is important to recognize and draw on the repertoires of literacy practices that students develop outside school. The concept of multiple literacies provides an analytic heuristic with which to consider the range of…

Schools, families, communities, and students must come together and share in the responsibilities of implementing effective policies and programs that address the unique needs of rural youth. A recent survey of 152 rural school principals in a northwestern state examined how they defined at-risk and how they, in turn, identified at-risk students…

This paper recommends that rural education researchers adopt an ecological approach that acknowledges both family and community influences on child development and school outcomes. Although rural researchers have generated useful information about children, few studies have provided a full portrayal of rural children's lives. A fundamental…

The theoretical perspectives of school and family partnerships discussed in this report are based on the influences of families and schools on children's learning and development. A review of research deals with three topics: (1) the importance of family environments and involvement; (2) the influence of school environments on family involvement;…

Assessors of literature learning have long been concerned with the issue of difficulty and the fundamental contradictions in the term "examination of literary understanding." An alternate view of literature is that although texts are finally indeterminate, a group of them has been set aside by communities as forming a part of the…