Offers seven recommendations (with comments) for action involving school partnerships with families and communities: Involve and support teachers and principals, adopt democratic principles, reach out to parents, encourage parent activism, provide parents with opportunities for choice and voice, encourage and support increased family…

Defines the full-service community school concept and then describes its evolution, characteristics, and value based on an analysis of 49 evaluation reports, 46 of which reported positive outcomes. Discusses the realities of implementation. Concludes that full-service community schools are a viable alternative to traditional schools, especially in…

Describes experiences of student ambassadors and alumni in the Academic Talent Development Program, a K-12 summer program for economically disadvantaged students offered by the University of California, Berkeley. Includes story of two students' experiences with a "Shakespeare as Theatre" class. (PKP)

Discusses ways research universities can involve more tenured faculty members in supervising student teachers in schools. Describes problems with traditional model of supervision. Discusses a new inquiry-based supervision model developed at the University of Maine using faculty members as mentors, student curriculum inquiry projects…

Describes how the faculty of the College of Education at California State University, Long Beach, developed an academically rigorous, hands-on teacher credentialing program, with guaranteed results, to meet the demand created in July 1996 when the governor proposed an immediate reduction in class size to a 20-to-1 student/teacher ratio for grades…

Discusses federal district court decision dismissing suit brought by three Texas high school students claiming that their Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when police, at request of administrators, entered school and rounded up, handcuffed, and detained them and 11 other students who "hung out" with a student arrested for…

Comments on new Elementary Secondary Education Act, particularly the bill's national testing and school-choice provisions. (PKP)

Discusses efforts by South Dakota, Oregon, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Virginia to assess students using the Internet and computers. (PKP)

Discusses a federal district court decision ordering a trial to determine if the New York City Public Schools created a "hostile work environment" in violation of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act by not protecting a Sri Lankan-born teacher from repeated ridicule and harassment by students. (Contains 10 references.) (PKP)

Discusses apparent contradicting conclusions of two studies on the impact of policies aimed at raising the achievement of at-risk students. One study analyzed the impact of state minimum competency testing; the other analyzed students' reactions to the threat of grade retention if certain levels on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills were not achieved.…

Suggests ways for educators to join and shape the accountability movement. Recommends establishing several educational goals for children and for schools that can be assessed using certain "unobtrusive measures." (PKP)

Describes how the Primary Literacy Institute, a teaching practicum for practicing teachers, was used to help teachers in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District develop a variety of student learning strategies. Five Juneau teachers created the Institute in 1995. (PKP)

Describes the six basic elements of personalized instruction: The dual teacher role (coach and advisor), diagnosing student learning characteristics, a culture of collegiality, interactive learning environments, flexible scheduling and pacing, and authentic assessment. (Contains 23 references.) (PKP)

Describes how two secondary schools implemented the six basic elements of personalized instruction: The Thomas Haney Secondary Centre in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, and the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens, Massachusetts. (Contains 14 references.) (PKP)

Identifies and discusses several reasons why the proliferation of standards for early childhood education is harmful to children and teachers: Pressure on children and teachers, narrowing of experience, accountability as punishment, teacher deprofessionalization, performance over learning, individual devaluation, corporate mentality. (Contains 34…