Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory offers tools and strategies that can help school-community partnerships to run smoothly and to make significant, long-term contributions to both community and school. Community Action Team sites set their own agendas, which may include entrepreneurship, service learning, or other kinds of activities. SEDL resources include a guide and materials for starting a Collaborative Action Team; for a limited number of sites, SEDL also provides ongoing training and consultations. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 211 East Seventh Street, Austin, Texas, 78701, (512) 476-6861, www.sedl.org.

PACERS Small Schools Coorperative
The PACERS Small Schools Cooperative, operated by the University of Alabama’s Program for Rural Services and Research, helps rural schools to implement a program titled "Better Schools Building Better Communities." The program consists of three interrelated components: "Genius of Place," "Sustaining Communities: Shelter, Food, Good Work, Health," and "Joy." The "Sustaining Communities" component includes provisions for entrepreneurial education. Resources that are provided include a PACERS e-mail account and linking teachers to the Alabama Course of Study. For further information contact the Program for Rural Services and Research, University of Alabama, Box 870372, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, 205/348-6432, http://www.prsr.ua.edu/pacers.html.

Center for School Change
The Center for School Change, based at the University of Minnesota, works with both rural and inner-city schools, helping to establish school/community teams that plan and implement innovative programs. The Center gives grants to schools that agree to a specific set of practices, which include strategies for service learning and entrepreneurship. Resources include (1) workshops for grantees, which include parents, administrators, teachers, community people, and, in the case of secondary schools, students; (2) outreach coordinators, whereby CSC staff work closely with planning and implementation sites; and (3) evaluation and assessment; staff work with each site to help them assess progress. Further information can be accessed at www.hhh.umn.edu/centers/school-change. Joe Nathan is director of the Center for School Change, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University Minnesota, 301 19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455, and can be reached at 612/626-1834.

School at the Center
The School at the Center project was established in 1990 by two professors at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Its mission is to place the school at the center of the community, thereby contributing to rural renewal both culturally and economically. The Center provides grants, networking and technical assistance. Resources include curriculum units addressing entrepreneurial education. Assistance is provided by the Nebraska University Teachers College, the Center for Rural Affairs in Walthill, and businesses and agencies including the Nebraska departments of economic development and education. Major funding is through the Annenberg Rural Challenge. Contact Paul Olson, Foundation Professor of English at the University of Nebraska, 33B Andrews Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0333, 402/472-3198.

REAL Enterprises
REAL Enterprises, Inc. encourages the creation of school-based community development corporations that serve as a way for schools to educate their youth to stay in their communities and thrive as entrepreneurs. REAL provides curriculum materials and teacher training in entrepreneurship and small business management. REAL Enterprises, 115 Market Street, Suite 320, Durham, North Carolina 27701, (919) 688-7325.

Craig B. Howley & John M. Eckman (1997), Sustainable small schools: A handbook for rural communities. Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, Appalachia Educational Laboratory, PO Box 1348, Charleston, West Virginia 25325.

Credits: This issue of Benefits² was written by Martha Boethel. The photo on page 1 is copyright FPG International (iswoop collection), 2000. All other photos are copyright PhotoDisc, 2000. Benefits² is designed for print by Jane Thurmond and for the web by Chris Sears.

© Southwest Educational Development Laboratory. This publication was produced in whole or in part with funds from the office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract #RJ9600681. The content herein does not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Education, any other agency of the U.S. Government or any other source.

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