Latinos now constitute the largest minority group in the United States and the fastest growing segment of its school-age population. Yet they are the least educated of all major ethnic groups. Poverty, lack of access to high-quality preschool, low levels of parental education attainment, and hypersegregated schools all play a crucial role. The…

To handle unforeseen crises, Albuquerque Public Schools established a critical-incident response team with a simple, understandable chain of command. The group aims to ensure maximum safety and people' well-being, develop a districtwide crisis-response-management plan, coordinate necessary training, and collaborate with community agencies…

Reliance on the "delegation model" in public education has created a fundamental gap between families and schools. The Accelerated Schools Project has helped two poverty-afflicted, minority-populated elementary schools in the San Francisco Bay Area enlist parents and mobilize community agencies to achieve shared improvement goals.…

Founded in 1977, "Communities in Schools" champions the connection of needed community resources with schools to help 300,000 youngsters annually to learn, stay in school, and prepare for life. The program brings in community-service providers, such as health-care and mental-health professionals, to work as a personalized team alongside…

The Murfreesboro, Tennessee, City Schools have doubled the amount of time schools are open without raising taxes. Instead of going home to empty houses, kids participate in an extended school program offering over 100 courses in recreation, academics, arts, and life skills. Parents and organizations foot the costs; no child is excluded for…

Children react to divorce and custody battles with powerful emotions. Schools can mitigate classroom effects of family breakups by recognizing and responding to children's feelings and by involving both parents in a child's school life via newsletters, conferences, and progress reports. Principals should form coalitions with community groups, lure…

Of 1,700 homeless in Orange County, Florida, 40 percent are families. In 1988, a coalition of 34 agencies formed to address this challenge. A school district task force composed of community members, university student tutors, and key players from transportation services, pupil assignment, health services, Chapter 1, extended day, exceptional…

Interagency collaboration to serve youngsters' needs should be comprehensive, preventive, child-centered, and flexible. Streamlining collaboration involves mapping the territory, surveying the field, reviewing current needs and services, developing a plan, and getting started. Pitfalls include talking without acting, creating an interagency czar…

A summer program provided a range of health and school activities for entire families of the Minneapolis (Minnesota) Indian community. Both students and their parents improved in learning assessments and in attitudes toward school. (MLF)

Over 750,000 U.S. school-age children are homeless. Schools can eliminate attendance and environmental barriers sabotaging these children's education by becoming communities of learning that provide specialized education for children, contextualized education for parents, and linkages to needed services. The Bronx's Brownstone School, Chicago's…

In summer 1995, Dallas Public Schools formed a partnership with a primary care system and a mental health agency. The result was the opening of nine youth and family centers located on or near school campuses. Services are designed to promote academic success, resiliency, and self-sufficiency. By offering families and students needed support, the…

Alexandria (Virginia) Community Network Preschools is a private, nonprofit preschool system that serves over 125 low-income children and their families. Network Preschools follow the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation's principles for a superior early-childhood curriculum. The four schools use developmentally appropriate practices, enable…

Toronto is creating a miniature knowledge-building society, using Computer Supported Intentional Learning Environment (CSILE) software. Part of the Canada-wide TeleLearning Network of Centres of Excellence, CSILE links diverse participants, including schoolchildren and parents; teacher education and medical students; museum, engineering, science…

Full-service community schools combine three concepts--mind, body, and building--into an integrated approach placing quality education and comprehensive support services at one site. The DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund is helping schools and communities replicate 4 such programs at 60 sites in 20 U.S. cities. (MLH)

The placement of students in special education or compensatory programs can be justified only when student classification is valid and when the programs have distinctive qualities and show efficacy. Modified classifications, educational teaming, coordinated teacher preparation, and interagency cooperation will hopefully end disjointedness in…