Urban schools serving low-income minority children face a variety of challenges related to teacher quality, resources and school infrastructure. Programs such as the GK-12 Fellows Program, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), try to mitigate some of these issues by supporting partnerships between local school districts and institutions…

This paper describes a research partnership conducted between Jefferson County (Ky.) Public Schools, the University of Louisville, and the University of Kentucky. The aim of the partnership was to share resources while meeting the different institutions' needs in areas such as research and recruitment. Although effective district and university…

For a middle school, family involvement in school life begins with the orientation program for incoming students. An effective transition program can help parents and prospective students anticipate a new school's academic and social expectations. This article describes a Vermont middle school's transition program, highlighting planning and…

A collaborative approach brought together 31 new administrators from a 3-county region in Illinois and Missouri for a university-based staff development program. Nine monthly sessions were held with themes that included problem solving, grant writing, staff development, and school improvement. Summarizes participants' evaluation of the program…

Explores how schools and community agencies collaborate to meet needs of at-risk youth, focusing on four youth services teams located in two rural Oregon counties. Challenges included loose structure, lack of defined objectives, lack of common understanding of related roles and responsibilities, school leadership burden, time management, need for…

In 1993, the teachers in Virginia Beach City (Virginia) Public Schools surveyed parents' views concerning classroom practices as part of a client satisfaction project. Intended to increase parent involvement, gauge customer satisfaction, and guarantee continuous improvement, the survey found that comments about teacher efforts were overwhelmingly…

Describes reasons for minority achievement gap; suggests ways for school and community members to adopt routines to alleviate the gap; discusses use of transition clusters to achieve transitions to new routines; reviews research on conditions that promote engagement; suggests topics and methods for additional relevant research. (PKP)

Reviews the progress of 62 state-funded service-learning programs in Pennsylvania schools during 1992-95. Each site completed an extensive annual program profile, tracked student service and hours, and was visited by an evaluation team member who observed actual implementation. Success depends on organizational commitment, service-learning…

Case study focuses on origin and development of Metro-East Education Task Force, regional school/community effort to improve education in two-county region of Illinois. Primary goal is to develop relationships between/among schools, businesses, other community agencies. Tables show what businesses and social agencies were doing in cooperation with…

School districts across New York State have implemented numerous innovative cost-saving measures in the 1990s, according to February 1993 New York State School Boards Association survey of 722 school superintendents. Districts achieved substantial savings in financial management, plant management, personnel management, and school support services…

Discusses the results of a three-year collaborative research project documenting the effectiveness of the school reform process. The study describes efforts of the Consortium for the Advancement of Public Education in Southeast North Carolina (CAPE) to support schools as they change. Areas showing the most improvement included participative…

An unacceptable number of students appear to be at great risk of not attaining the education levels essential to become successful, contributing members of society. An array of agencies at community levels receive funding from various levels of governments to provide support services to address the various elements of risk. Yet the problem of…

Despite the importance of school libraries' and media centers' role in applying new technologies and developing innovative teaching methods, the 1990-91 Schools and Staffing Survey data show a mixed picture of these facilities' staff resources. Libraries are in most U.S. public and private schools, but are understaffed, particularly in smaller…

To address the district's pregnant-student dropout problem, the Memphis City Schools initiated the Adolescent Parenting Program (APP), in cooperation with several community agencies. The program provides comprehensive services and an incentive program to ensure students' progress toward graduation. According to this program evaluation, the APP has…

The School-Based Mental Health Program's goals are to identify at-risk children, reduce ineffective functioning of at-risk children, provide social service interventions, increase effective parenting skills, help families access community resources, and support mental health education. The program was designed to develop a comprehensive,…