Shared leadership is a process empowering parents to exercise their civil rights, build leadership skills, and guide the design of policy positions and programs meant to improve their lives and the well-being of their children. Based on principles of family support practice, this book describes how to plan and host a 1- to 3-day shared leadership…

The Community Design movement advocates that mismanagement of the physical environment is a major factor contributing to social and economic ills of a community. This book provides the proven tools and techniques for bringing community members into the community design process successfully and productively. It offers 15 case studies chronicling…

Planning to meet the needs of the future is a critical concern of an Arizona school district. The Mesa Action Planning System (MAPS) provides a framework for community involvement with a 200-member community-based planning committee, selected from constituent groups, and a 12-member steering committee. The planning committee will receive a summary…

This handbook is designed to assist schools in organizing and managing an effective school improvement council. It is divided into six sections. Section I describes the benefits of a school improvement council from the perspective of the school district, parents and citizens, teachers, the school administration, and students. Section II provides…

This report addresses the decision-making process for replacing or modernizing the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) as proposed in the DCPS facility master plan. The three-section document discusses old and historic schools and their future; the schools' historical and architectural value; cost of replacement and modernization; design;…

Until recently, teen pregnancy and birth rates had declined steadily in the United States in recent years. Despite these declines, the United States has the highest teen birth rate and one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among all industrialized nations. To help young people reduce their risk for pregnancy and STIs,…

Until recently, teen pregnancy and birth rates had declined in the United States. Despite these declines, U.S. teen birth and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates remain among the highest in the industrialized world. Given the need to focus limited prevention resources on effective programs, Advocates for Youth undertook exhaustive reviews…

This book illustrates techniques that families have found effective in coping with a family member who has mental retardation. It provides quotations and comments from a number of parents as well as anecdotal accounts and photographs, grouped into four sections. The first section is on the recognition process and recounts how parents have coped…

Rapid residential growth in rural areas or on the fringes of urban areas brings both costs and benefits. Seven factors determine whether new homes and subdivisions generate more revenues than expenditures. Local governments can substantially influence four of these seven factors in order to reduce the public costs of residential growth. Less…

This book seeks to provide educators, parents, employers, and communities with specific strategies to help teenagers pinpoint the disparity between their preconceived career notions and aspirations, and the realities of the new economic and labor markets. This book advocates helping students develop a plan for career success, which may or may not…

This handbook contains 30 profiles describing school-community partnerships in Massachusetts that address diverse educational issues with creative strategies and solutions. The programs exemplify one or more of the following community education principles: use of community resources to enhance curriculum and instruction; citizen involvement in the…

This booklet is intended to provide guidance to women who are making decisions about their lives and work and to help them take advantage of the opportunities that are now open to them. Part I gives an overview of the status of women in the work force and some of the factors that affect women's employment. Alternative work patterns are a special…

This book is intended to assist adults who are contemplating changing careers or actually doing so. The information, exercises, questionnaires, guides, and bibliographies included in it are designed to give adults the coping skills to adapt to and work through the personal, financial, and other changes that accompany the career change process. The…

How to locate information that can be used in career decision making is the subject of this digest. The first section lists the career/occupational information collections generally found in public libraries, including printed resources, information about associations, information about local sources of job information, information on specific…