These final regulations implement Executive branch policy that, within the framework of constitutional church-state guidelines, religiously affiliated (or "faith-based") organizations should be able to compete on an equal footing with other organizations for funding by the U.S. Department of Education (Department). Department regulations are being revised to remove barriers to the participation of faith-based organizations in Department programs and to ensure that these programs are implemented in a manner consistent with the requirements of the U.S. Constitution, including the Establishment, Free Exercise, and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment. These regulations are effective July 6, 2004. [This final rule was put forth by the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education.].

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.

Educational policy controversies in the United States invariably implicate legal issues. Policy debates about testing and school choice, for example, cannot be disentangled from legal rights and mandates. The same is true for issues such as funding, campus safety, speech and religion rights, as well as the teaching of immigrant students. Written for a general audience, this new twelve-chapter book explores these compelling educational policy issues through that legal lens, building an understanding of both law and policy. The book's editors are Kevin Welner, associate professor of educational policy at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Wendy Chi, a doctoral candidate at Boulder. Both Welner and Chi are lawyers as well as educational scholars.

Throughout our nation?s history, faith communities have played an essential role in educating children. Churches, synagogues, mosques and other religious organizations have supported and extended the work of local schools by offering tutoring, reading instruction, mentoring, after-school programs and a wide range of other services. Faith communities have met the educational needs of young people with efforts that have been as generous as they have been effective. The recently passed No Child Left Behind Act?the landmark education reform law designed to close the historic achievement gaps between disadvantaged and minority students and their more advantaged peers?gives faith-based groups new opportunities to build on the good work they are already doing. No Child Left Behind resources can help faith-based groups to find new ways to help meet the learning needs of all children and to discover new ways to partner with local schools. With No Child Left Behind, schools and religious organizations can become even more powerful allies in the effort to ensure that all children?regardless of their race, family income or the language spoken in their homes?receive a high-quality education.