State postsecondary education data systems are vital assets for policymakers, researchers, and the public. The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association's (SHEEO) Communities of Practice project builds upon SHEEO's efforts to measure the capacity and effective use of state postsecondary data systems and provides states with…

To help many students stay in college today, faculty need to advise students in areas such as financial struggles, coping with stress, mental or physical issues, and family pressures as much as they need to advise them about what classes to take. But what Erin Clair found in surveying the faculty at Arkansas Tech University and in the surveys of…

This study examines the Study Circles program on education that was conducted in Arkansas and Oklahoma in the fall of 1998. Study Circles are a community involvement strategy for collaborative problem solving. They are small, highly participatory groups led by trained facilitators using materials provided by the Study Circles Resource Center. The…

In this award winning project for incorporating economics study into the curriculum, a fifth grade class studied economic interdependence as it applied to their community (Barling, Arkansas). Class readings of several books dealing with the development of an economic community preceded the students' creation of a mini-Barling with elected…

Five types of counties (College-Professional, Urban, Recreational-Retirement, Extractive, and Most Rural) were identified among 83 counties in the Ozark-Ouchita Uplands in order to determine educational and health impacts resulting from the "population turnaround" of the late 1960's and early 1970's. Variables were computed from…

A study (telephone survey), assessing community support for school family life education programs, had two purposes: (1) to determine acceptability of school sex education programs to residents of northwest Arkansas; and (2) to identify factors related to an individual's acceptance or nonacceptance of such programs. Telephone interviews with 119…

In 1998, the Study Circles Resource Center, Arkansas Friends for Better Schools, Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, and Oklahoma League of Women Voters involved 900 people in Arkansas and Oklahoma in the Calling the Roll: Study Circles for Better Schools program to address educational problems and link the community and schools. Study…

Of the 255 Arkansas school districts responding to a questionnaire, 67 percent received resource support from the private sector. Contributed services were reported by 48 percent of the districts receiving support, monetary contributions by 46 percent, equipment and supplies by 40 percent, and buildings and land by 6 percent. Corporations provided…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of private contributions to public schools in Arkansas, and the effect of district superintendents actively seeking such contributions. Questionnaires were sent to all school districts in the state, of which 65 percent responded. The data indicate that private contributions are received in…

A pilot study surveyed radio broadcasters in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas to further an understanding of their role as gatekeepers for public service announcements (PSA) to educate audiences about AIDS and bring about "safe" behavior. A total of 300 stations were in the sample. Respondents were asked to provide information…

The work values and job satisfaction of Arkansas business educators in secondary school systems and community/technical colleges were examined through a survey of a random sample of 129 of Arkansas' 926 secondary and community/technical college business educators. Of those teachers sent surveys (67 secondary and 62 community/technical college…

Recently the state legislatures in Texas and Arkansas have passed initiatives to maximize transfer effectiveness from two- to four-year institutions. These initiatives, and others being undertaken on a national level, were stimulated by the rising cost of higher education, a decline in transfer rates and low achievement among students who do…

This paper examined each of the eight major recommendations of the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development's 1989 report entitled "Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century." That report called for the transformation of early adolescent education by: (1) creating a community for learning in the schools through…

This paper describes school consolidation in six small towns in South Nevada County, Arkansas. None of the six schools had the resources to meet the requirements of advanced programs set by the Arkansas Educational Standards Act. School boards met with each community to gather support for consolidation, discussing increased taxes to pay for a new…

This report reviews the collaborative and evaluative efforts of an Arkansas education renewal consortium comprised of two universities and nine school districts. The reform originated from a smaller project that aimed to establish a broad communication base and systematic planning for meeting student needs. The current project, begun in 1985-86,…