Because of board members' key role in determining the future quality of local school districts, it is important for communities to elect and evaluate the persons elected to school boards. Board members' primary role is to support district policy and the administration, especially the superintendent, in all decisions conforming to professional…

As the nation increasingly focuses on children's readiness for school, attention must be given to making schools and communities ready for children. This means confronting the polemics raised by reform efforts, including a nascent early care and education movement, a family support movement, a school-linked service-integration movement, health and…

Discusses individual rights versus institutional responsibilities as addressed in the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities for Electronic Learners. Topics addressed include freedom of speech and First Amendment rights; freedom of the press; freedom of assembly; right to privacy; freedom from unreasonable searches; due process; and future issues.…

Presents an Izaak Walton League of America's Save Our Streams (SOS) program that teaches citizens how to protect streams. This organization provides activities for families, school groups, scout troops, 4-H clubs and other youth organizations. (MCO)

Adolescent childbearing is embedded in persuasive societal problems and is not limited to ethnic minority groups or females. Although youth are reaching biological maturity earlier, society has delayed their acceptance as adults by requiring more years of education to secure decent employment. Also, today's economy makes family formation more…

Differentiates self-esteem from narcissism and traces societal preoccupation with self-esteem. Maintains that placing so much importance on an individual and self-esteem obscures the value of a balance between individuality and mutual responsibility. Describes Montessori's emphasis on the child's inner development and on community and mutual…

The objective of this manual is to train volunteers in the process of identifying vernal pool habitat so that as many of these pools as possible can be certified by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program. Vernal pools are a kind of temporary pond in which salamanders and other animals breed. The pools are unique…

The booklet, developed at Red School House for Indian communities, demonstrates visually in a cultural context the series of actions constitute a needs assessment. The illustrated text tells the story of a traditional community that is in need of food for the survival of its people. The question of how to cross the river to see if food is…

The extent of economic and social decay in rural America has yet to be recognized by the community college. Instead of emphasizing rural survival, community college programs often weaken rural institutions and encourage the migration of rural students to the cities. Recommendations to alleviate the problem are suggested. (AH)

It is difficult for newspaper editors and reporters to maintain journalistic objectivity when covering a city's urban structure and development because of their traditional civic involvement and because of a civic ideology shared with urban experts and chamber of commerce boosters. News values and editorial policy are often implicit varieties of…

This document discusses the role of higher education institutions in less developed countries and the responsibility of these countries to higher education institutions. The university's role in these countries is reviewed in relation to the university as bearer of the culture, trainer of skills, service agency, and the university on the frontiers…

This article analyzes the role of the Committee of 100, a vehicle created by the Milwaukee school board to provide active leadership from the community in the formulation and implementation of a desegregation plan. (Author/AM)

Child abuse and neglect is a community concern. Each community has a legal and moral obligation to promote the safety, permanency, and well-being of children, which includes responding effectively to child maltreatment. At the State and local levels, professionals assume various roles and responsibilities ranging from prevention, identification,…

This guide contains information and activities designed to be used during National Wildlife Week. These curriculum materials are organized into three stages and offer a coherent progression from learning about natural communities through understanding human communities and human responsibilities for natural communities to offering opportunities…

This guide is designed to assist teachers and youth leaders in helping youth develop civic action skills. Section 1 offers a planning guide for action projects and focuses on how to develop such a project. Section 2 provides samples of eight community action projects with their descriptions, goals, resources needed, relevant facts and figures, a…