"I'm Calling My Lawyer": How Litigation, Due Process and Other Regulatory Requirements Are Affecting Public Education

Jean Johnson and Ann Duffett. Prepared for Common Good, 2005.

In this pilot study, many teachers and school administrators reported that the possibility of being sued or accused of abuse is ever present in their minds. Avoiding suits and fulfilling due process requirements is a time-consuming part of a principal or superintendent's job and many feel the requirements give unreasonable people a chance to get their way. Yet many educators say protecting children from abuse is a higher priority than reducing the threat of litigation.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_reports.cfm

A Public Voice '00: Public Schools

Milton B. Hoffman Productions.

Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.

Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org

A Public Voice '95: 'Juvenile Violence' and 'Immigration'

Milton B. Hoffman Productions.

Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.

Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org

A Public Voice '95: Contested Values: Tug-of-War in the School Yard

Milton B. Hoffman Productions.

Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.

Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org

A Public Voice '96: The Troubled American Family

Milton B. Hoffman Productions.

Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.

Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org

A Public Voice '99: Protecting Our Rights; What Goes on the Internet

Milton B. Hoffman Productions.

Each year, many public television stations around the nation air an hour-long program that features U.S. citizens deliberating in National Issues Forums around the nation. The programs also feature distinguished panels of nationally known political leaders, commentators and journalists meeting at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to reflect on what this 'public voice' may mean in setting direction for America. The topics are different each year.

Resource Link: http://www.nifi.org

American Documentary, Inc.

American Documentary, Inc. builds new audiences, educates viewers, and fosters sustained public discourse and activity around the contemporary social issues raised by P.O.V. (Point of View) documentary programming. Their film Girls Like Us, for example, used broadcast media to encourage adults to become aware of the issues affecting the young women in their lives.

Resource Link: http://amdoc.org

An Evaluation of the Ford Foundation's Neighborhood and Family Initiative

Robert Chaskin, Selma Chipenda-Dansokho, Mark Joseph, and Carla Richards. Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago, 2001.

This evaluation of the Ford Foundation's Neighborhood and Family Initiative reviews its activities since 1996 and distills lessons learned about comprehensive approaches to community building, including lessons about the role of collaboration, resident participation, funding, outcomes, and evaluation.

Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org/article_abstract.aspx?ar=1295&L2=63&L3=108

At The Table

Connect with others, share information, and help build the worldwide movement for youth participation at this online clearinghouse featuring everything you need to know about effectively involving youth in your organization and community. Hosted by the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development.

Resource Link: http://www.AtTheTable.org

Before Push Comes to Shove: Building Conflict Resolution Skills with Children

Nancy Carlsson-Paige and Diane E. Levin. Educators for Social Responsibility, 1998.

For Calvin and Angela, trash day is the best day of the week to find great playtime items. But when they end up in a conflict that results in anger and put-downs, they find themselves searching for a way to communicate and arrive at a solution that makes both of them happy. By using Best Day of the Week as a starting point, Before Push Comes to Shove shows teachers how they can begin to build conflict resolution skills in young children in ways that are meaningful and embedded in every day school experiences.

Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

Building Strong Neighborhoods: A Study Circle Guide for Public Dialogue and Community Problem Solving

Study Circles Resource Center (SCRC), 1998.

A four-session discussion guide on many important neighborhood issues including: race and other kinds of differences; young people and families; safety and community-police relations; homes, housing and beautification; jobs and neighborhood economy; and schools.

Resource Link: http://www.studycircles.org/en/DiscussionGuides.aspx

Center for Assessment and Policy Development (CAPD)

CAPD is a non-profit organization founded in 1987 to help institutions, communities and public systems craft and execute thoughtful responses to pressing social issues--particularly, improving outcomes for children, adolescents, and families. CAPD works on many issues, including education, violence prevention, community change, reduction in racism (particularly institutional racism), leadership, and civic engagement.

Resource Link: http://www.capd.org

Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago

Building knowledge to serve children is the mission of the Chapin Hall Center for Children. Located at the University of Chicago, Chapin Hall is a research and development center that brings the highest standards of scholarship and the intellectual resources of one of the world's great research universities to the real-world challenges of policymakers and service providers struggling to ensure that children grow, thrive, and take their place in a formidable world. Working behind the scenes with lawmakers and government administrators, as well as on the front lines with program providers, Chapin Hall puts rigorous, non-partisan research in the hands of those who shape the programs and policies that affect all children in their daily lives.

Resource Link: http://www.chapinhall.org

Child Care Citizen ChoiceWork Guide

Public Agenda.

Should we encourage a parent to stay home even if it means a loss of financial security or a slow down in their career? What if there's only one parent or if a family simply can't live on one income? What kinds of child care policies by government and employers would be the most helpful to today's families? This Citizen ChoiceWork Guide (and video) from Public Agenda examines three approaches: help parents take care of their own children; provide quality, affordable child-care options for those parents who need the most help; and provide comprehensive, quality child care for all families.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/pubengage/pe_toolkit.cfm

Child Care Issue Guide

Public Agenda.

America has changed drastically over the past 30 years and so has the way it performs one of society's basic acts: caring for its children. Our world is now filled with two-income families and single-parent families, and far fewer of what we consider the "traditional" family: a father who works and a mother who stays home with the children. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/frontdoor.cfm?issue_type=childcare

Children's Social Consciousness and the Development of Social Responsibility

Sheldon Berman, Educators for Social Responsibility. SUNY Press, 1997.

This book breaks new ground in our understanding of the development of social consciousness and social responsibility in young people and the educational practices that promote this development. The author shows that children's awareness of the social and political world emerges far earlier and their moral abilities are more advanced than we thought. He provides educators and researchers with the developmental understandings and instructional strategies necessary to enable students to become active, caring, and responsible members of our social and political community.

Resource Link: http://esrnational.org/Merchant2/merchant.mvc

CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement)

CIRCLE promotes research on the civic and political engagement of Americans between the ages of 15 and 25. Although CIRCLE conducts and funds research, not practice, the projects that we support have practical implications for those who work to increase young people's engagement in politics and civic life. CIRCLE is also a clearinghouse for relevant information and scholarship. CIRCLE is based in the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy.

Resource Link: http://www.civicyouth.org

City Voices, Children's Needs

The National League of Cities.

Describes widespread concerns about the quality of schools, violence by and among young people, and inadequate opportunities for youth to become engaged in constructive activities during non-school hours.

Resource Link: http://www.nlc.org

Community Relations Service

CRS, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, is a specialized Federal conciliation service available to State and local officials to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict, violence, and civil disorders. CRS helps local officials and residents tailor locally defined resolutions when conflict and violence threaten community stability and well-being.

Resource Link: http://www.usdoj.gov/crs

Developing Cross-Cultural Competence: A Guide for Working with Children and Their Families, 3rd ed.

Eleanor W. Lynch and Marci J. Hanson. Paul Brookes Publishing Company, 2004.

This popular resource offers practical advice for working with children of diverse heritage. With insight from their own racial, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, the chapter authors contribute wisdom about the influence of different cultures and people's beliefs, values and behaviors. Their knowledge helps professionals learn how to embrace diversity in intervention services, and foster respectful and effective interactions with people of many cultures.

Resource Link: http://www.brookespublishing.com/store/books/lynch-7446/index.htm