Since the state takeover, the Philadelphia school district has created a new governance model, in which for-profits, non-profits, and universities receive contracts to manage schools. Further, these and other organizations also receive contracts to provide a range of additional services. The shift to a public/private institutional structure,…

American colleges and universities rely on a system of shared governance that includes the voluntary involvement of faculty to assist in the decision-making process. With a culture of democratic involvement and an expectation to participate in the democratic process generally, American citizens are accustomed to this type of involvement,…

This guide helps child welfare agencies and their partners craft more family-focused and neighborhood-based service systems. It suggests a framework that agencies can use to assess their current policies and practices and develop plans to integrate Family to Family values, principles, and strategies into existing initiatives and activities. Family…

The experience of Maryland in implementing large scale assessment in the context of school reform is explored. The ways in which the state Department of Education has worked with divergent groups to build a continuing and strong school reform program are discussed. In 1987 Maryland's governor created a Commission on School Performance. This was…

What the empirical evidence suggests about the relationship between parental involvement in noninstructional educational activities or wider networks of community engagement on the one hand and effective schools and student learning on the other is explored. Parent participation is discussed as direct involvement in school governance or as…

This package includes a guide for formation and implementation of community study circles on cultural diversity, an abridged version of the same text entitled "A Busy Citizen's Discussion Guide", for study circle participants, and a 23-minute videotape recording. The main guide begins with a section on the need for community conversations, based…

Presentations at this conference dealt with the transformation of the child welfare system through community partnerships, and the presenters explore various aspects of forming partnerships among public agencies and community organizations. There are some excellent examples of such partnerships, but evaluation findings on "best practice"…

In response to requests for information from people and organizations all over the United States on how to contribute to the healthy development of young children, the Families and Work Institute has gathered concrete suggestions from leaders in diverse fields into this booklet of action tips. This effort was undertaken to support the "I Am Your…

The "Goldfinch" is a magazine that introduces young children to different aspects of Iowa history. Each issue contains articles to provide in-depth knowledge about Iowa. The theme of this issue is searching through historical sources, such as letters, diaries, manuscripts, newspapers, clothing, old buildings, time capsules, statistics,…

This guide for locating local resources to support a literacy program is designed to help program directors or organizers identify partners and stakeholders in their community--those that may not have been thought of as a resource. In the context of this guide, resources refers to any organization, initiative, or individual who supports…

School-community partnerships can weave together a critical mass of resources and strategies to enhance caring communities that support all youth and their families and enable success at school and beyond. Comprehensive partnerships represent a promising direction for efforts to generate essential interventions to address barriers to learning,…

This workshop and planning guide is designed to help stakeholders create safe schools for students. The guide is intended to be used with three 20-minute videotape programs that feature an inside look at two schools that actively involved their communities in improving school safety. The three videos--"Building the Team,""The Safe School…

Career education at Roosevelt School District, Phoenix, Arizona, prepares students for the world of work with a coordinated and innovative program. (MS)

Analyzes activism among students at the California State Colleges during the 60's in terms of three threads which ran through the various causes: (1) the rights of students as citizens; (2) the need for course relevance; (3) development of a multicultural environment on campus placing the individual first and the institution as merely…

Puerto Rican students in a Teacher Corps Project reveal the magic that can result by having Spanish speaking teachers. (Editor)