Many schools have instituted their own community polls to provide a vehicle for school decision-making. Highlights the steps involved in developing effective polling techniques through adaptation of the Gallup Poll. Includes a discussion of "do's" and "don'ts" for telephone pollsters and a sample polling instrument. (MD)

Rural residence and social service delivery, role of the social worker, availability of services (staff count), and special training for service providers are examined to propose that case coordination, focusing on services to the client, is more appropriate than case management in meeting the needs of the rural developmentally disabled. (MM)

This pilot project was designed as a collaborative effort to serve substance abusing women and their young children. The goals were to improve the health and welfare of these families by early identification of pregnant substance abusers; improve access to and coordination of health care services and chemical dependency treatment; and provide…

Colleges and universities, it is suggested, can acquire valuable resources by trading their own services for goods they need. In return for access to a neighboring business firm's word processors, a college can give the firm's employees free courses. (Author/MLW)

Presents the conclusions of three Norwegian guidance booklets on joint location and coordinated use in the community. Provides information on planning and coordination of spaces for schools and other premises for the community in order to help make the most efficient use of resources. (AIM)

Describes current changes in rural transportation services. Describes general thrust of innovative efforts to provide rural passenger transportation despite declining resources. Describes public-private transportation cooperation, human-service agency coordination, linking state and local bus services, mixed passenger-package functions, community…

Reviews social work consultation models and describes applications of consultation techniques in rural communities. Discusses following steps in developing rural consultation services: making contact, negotiating contract, formulating goals, problem solving, action, evaluation, and termination. Encourages consultation services development as…

Discusses a cooperative effort to solve the articulation problems among participating institutions of higher education and to dispel the stereotypes impeding these efforts. Participants value highly the collegial exchange afforded by the project and feel that the project reduced their professional isolation. Teachers instituted changes in…

Five days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, a convoy of 142 air-conditioned school buses from the 209,000-student Texas district rumbled to life. Loaded with food and bottled water, staffed by 350 school employees, and accompanied by bus-repair trucks and a phalanx of school police cars, the yellow buses traveled all night to reach the…

In 1998 a Burlington, Vermont partnership of a branch of city government and several educational and environmental organizations received a "metro-grant" to develop a project for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under its Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking (EMPACT) Program. One goal was to…

Arizona's Serve-America Project is a K-12 community service program funded by the National and Community Service Act of 1990. Through formal school/community agency and youth organization/community agency partnerships, the project is designed to: (1) encourage school-age and out-of-school youth to volunteer their services; (2) increase the number…

This manual aims to help communities develop a plan to improve services to children from birth to 3 years of age who are chronically ill or disabled, and their families. Section I provides background information needed to begin a Community Approach to an Integrated Service System (CAISS) committee in a community. It addresses the issue that…

A mini-conference on rural schools and community development brought together experts in rural community, rural education, and economic development to brainstorm ideas for collaborative projects and produce a helpful conceptual design for use both by rural communities and their schools. This document offers a synthesis and overview of the experts'…

Designed for use by community education coordinators, elementary classroom teachers, PTA workers, school volunteers, and parents, this guide offers suggestions about ways to unite the school and the home in efforts to help children learn. The first section discusses the expanded role of the community education coordinator in parenting programs and…

The example of the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public Schools demonstrates that involving taxpayers in school district budgeting can generate school improvement. This financially troubled district decided in 1979-80 to (1) fully inform the public of the schools' financial position; (2) involve the public in improving that position; (3) involve the public in…