This article addresses ways school board members can work to engage the community in school-improvement efforts. Some suggestions: Commit your time and talents; demand clarity and simplicity; listen; use the grapevine; work with the media; and be honest. Includes an extensive list of recommendations within a "community relations checklist." (WFA)

This paper examines the imbalance in representation of native-born Mainers on the school board in Mount Desert Island, Maine. Mount Desert Island is the location of Acadia, the second most visited national park in the United States. In this community, native-born Mainers represent 68 percent of the year-round population, but 80 percent of people…

The materials in this manual are designed to help workshop leaders prepare for and present a workshop for school board members on how to contribute to improved communications between the school organization and the community. The workshop covers one process board members and superintendents can use when determining how to communicate school needs,…

Describes seven main power tactics used by teacher unions in strike situations. Recommends a program of advocacy communication strategies that school boards can follow in fostering positive community relations before and during a strike. (IW)

Superintendents (n=89) and school board presidents (n=88) from 89 of the 100 largest school districts in the country are surveyed to identify the major problems confronting large districts. Financial issues and related concerns are the most often identified problems. Critical characteristics of superintendents and districts are discussed. (SLD)

The materials in this manual are designed to help workshop leaders prepare for and present a workshop for school board members on managing conflict in the conduct of educational governance. The workshop helps board members develop and apply a framework for understanding conflict and introduces alternative approaches for managing it. The manual…

A survey of all Ontario's school boards and a random sample of 1,062 teachers was used to assess the effects of declining enrollment on the capability of school boards to offer programs of recognized quality. School boards were provided actual and projected enrollment figures on which to base their responses. While only one third of the boards has…

This paper explores the relationship between community stability and school conflict in a small rural Texas school district. Data included school district records; newspaper archives; and interviews with school district officials, community members, and officials of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). Texas County (a pseudonym)…

Examined is the educational bureaucracy in New York City and its relation to other city institutions, civic groups, and teachers and administrators. The book contains chapters on the failure of desegregation, demographic and housing patterns, the neighborhood school movement, civil rights organizations, white liberals, and the moderates. Also…

This document is an abridged version of a longer study of the New York City school system which has been published under the title "110 Livingston Street" (see UD 007 624). Discussed here are New York City's struggle over school desegregation, the Board of Education and its top decision makers, and the demographic and housing patterns in…

This paper addresses the issue of community relations through a presentation given by the four members of the school board and administration of a medium-sized school district in Salem, Oregon. Community relations is defined as two-way communications between a school district and the public. Public feedback is necessary for improvement of…

A questionnaire which school districts in California were asked to fill out in an effort to determine the scope of responsibility and authority they feel is delegated to the district superintendent by the governing board is presented. The form asks them to check whether the superintendent has (1) complete authority; (2) authority, but must inform;…

Since the California Assessment Program began in 1972 to provide information for evaluation of school programs in California, major changes in testing practices have occurred. Scholastic aptitude testing has been eliminated in all grades; state-designed reading and basic skills tests are administered in grades one, two, three, six, and twelve.…

This bibliography features an extensive collection of articles and books on the subject of school-community relations. Topics covered include school-community relations (general); program, organization, and administration; school-community relations activities; school-community relations processes; specific publics; political aspects; research;…

Public education in the United States is a function of the States. In discharging this responsibility each State has recognized that a considerable degree of local control of education is essential. The establishment of local school districts and the creation of local boards of education to administer school district affairs reflect this point of…