This qualitative study is based on in-depth interviews with 40 representatives from 12 community-based organizations (CBOs) working with the Steans Center for Community-based Service-Learning at DePaul University in Chicago. These CBOs see themselves as partners with the University in educating college students about the realities of racial and…

Information about how Arcola citizens felt about their public education system was obtained through phone interviews with 271 adults. Arcola was chosen because its small population (2,600 residents), its concern for the quality of education, and its economic base (farming) made it typical of a rural community in central and southern Illinois.…

This analysis examines the factors associated with a positive attitude toward the funding of local schools. Using data from a 1984 survey of 1,000 Illinois residents, the analysis found that attentiveness to local school issues was the strongest predictor of a positive attitude toward school spending. Suburban residents were less likely to be…

This study examined attitudes of people about benefits of the economic impacts of two local colleges (Palmer College of Chiropractic and Scott Community College) in the metropolitan Quad Cities area of Rock Island County (Illinois) and Scott County (Iowa). The study compared impacts considered important by the community with those estimated by the…

"The Imperfect Union" recounts the experiences of "Killmer," Illinois, from 1975 to 1979 while the village of 900 persons sought to fight the closing of its elementary school by seceeding from the consolidated school district ("Unit 110") to which it belonged. "Unit 110" is represented as an imperfect…

Family community aides were used in disadvantaged East Saint Louis, Illinois, schools in an effort to bridge the communication gap between the school and the home. The indigenous nonprofessional aides received 16 weeks of training to perform auxiliary noninstructional service and to act as liaison personnel between school and community. These…

It is essential that school board members understand the important role that public sentiment plays both in the management of the public schools and in the determination of legislated powers of local school boards. The 14 articles from the "Illinois School Board Journal" presented here were chosen for the light they shed on public…

As part of Project IMPACT's efforts to identify and develop procedures for complying with the impact requirements of Public Law 94-482, a case study was made of two Illinois communities and the vocational education programs in those communities. The study examined the relationship between the "good" vocational education programs in…