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In Canada and elsewhere, the shift from more horizontal models of governance and toward a more organized, diverse, and empowered civil society has sparked renewed interest in citizen involvement. The various dimensions of citizen involvement in policy processes are as follows: (1) mobilizing interest; (2) claims making; (3) knowledge acquisition; (4) spanning and bridging; (5) convening and deliberating; (6) community capacity building; (7) analysis and synthesis; and (8) transparency and feedback. These dimensions play various roles in the following stages of the policy process: (1) problem identification; (1) priority setting; (3) policy formation and design; (4) passage of policy instruments; (5) implementation; and (6) evaluation. An analysis of the adequacy of Canada's existing political institutions in providing for the dimensions of citizen involvement in each of these stages reveals that those institutions are not assuming as effective a part in citizen involvement as they might. Possible types of reforms to address this problem are as follows: (1) improving existing institutions and processes and developing institutionalized mechanisms for funding citizen involvement; (2) creating a new institution for citizen engagement, such as a civic forum; (3) changing culture within government; and (4) investing in civil society, including by promoting strong associational networks and supporting capacity building in voluntary organizations. (Contains 100 references.) (MN)

Building the research capacity of the vocational education and training (VET) sector is a key concern for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). To assist with this objective, NCVER supports an academic scholarship program, whereby VET practitioners are sponsored to undertake university study at honours', master's or doctorate level. The author received an academic scholarship in 2008 to assist with his Master's of Education at Charles Darwin University. He is a Lecturer and Course Coordinator in Alcohol and Other Drugs, Youth Work at Charles Darwin University. His research investigates the flexible delivery of VET in Wugularr, a remote Indigenous community near Katherine in the Northern Territory. As part of its core business, Charles Darwin University offers a range of VET training programs to Wugularr. One of these programs is the Sunrise Health Service's youth worker training program. This paper evaluates the program from the community's perspective. The lessons learned, which are applicable to the wider VET sector, are also identified. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.) [Funding for this document was provided through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.]

Roderick Watts and Omar Guessous of Georgia State University conducted exploratory research to investigate the link between math and civic engagement. Their research is based on an evaluation of the Young People's Project (YPP), a national program that recruits, trains, and deploys high school and college Math Literacy Workers for mentoring middle and elementary school students. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the Young Peoples Project, as a community-based math and social justice organization for youth, contributes to the math, academic, sociopolitical, ethnoracial identity, and positive youth development of participants. Five specific research questions addressed by this study were: (RQ #1) Program effect: Do YPP participants show more favorable outcomes than the two comparison groups on outcome indicators of interest? (RQ #2) Dosage effect: Do veterans show more favorable outcomes than novices on the outcome indicators of interest? (RQ #3) Program x dosage interaction: Is the dosage effect stronger among YPP participants than among the School Controls? In other words, is there an interaction effect between program membership and level of seniority? (RQ #4) Math--SPD link: Is there a positive relationship between math confidence and indicators of sociopolitical development? (RQ #5) Math--SPD x Program: Is this link moderated by group membership, such that YPP participants demonstrate a stronger positive relationship between math confidence and indicators of sociopolitical development than the School Controls (SC)? Participant in this cross-sectional study were Chicago-area residents in grades 8 and above who were administered a paper-and-pencil survey in a group format at the site of each YPP and After School Matters (ASM) program. YPP participants were encouraged to recruit a peer who did not participate in YPP to serve as matched comparisons. Additionally, ASM participants from three Chicago public high schools were recruited for participation in this study, to serve as an additional comparison group (N=73). There were a total of 196 participants. Each variable of interest was assessed using one or more self-report survey instruments that were answered on a numerical Likert scale. These included measures of social analysis, sense of urgency, societal involvement, cultural and ethnoracial identity. academic and math self-concept, and positive youth development. The five research questions were examined using Univariate Analysis of Covariance and Hierarchical Multiple Regression. Among the outcomes was a favorable link between YPP participation and aspirations for mathematics education, and another was evidence of sociopolitical development. The third was an exploration of other youth development outcomes of interest to the program and the researchers. Sense of Agency was positively related to math self confidence and negatively related to math self-doubt. Similarly, commitment to societal involvement activities was negatively related to math self-doubt. And in the only instance were the ethnoracial variables came into play, cultural pride reinforcement was found to positively correlate to math self confidence. The relationship between sociopolitical development and math confidence was consistently stronger among YPP participants compared to School Controls. This suggests that YPP contributed to a link between math knowledge or reasoning and to both sociopolitical agency and commitment; that is, YPP experiences are associated with the idea that "math is power." (Contains 14 tables and 9 figures.) [This Working Paper was produced by CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement). For CIRCLE Working Paper 49, see ED494074.]

In "Beyond Fishing," the Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF) documents its experiences as a local capacity building and grantmaking organisation and describes how it supports community based projects in developing their organisational capacity. In recent decades, development organisations have been supporting capacity building mainly through training. In this they have often been influenced by the paradigm, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for today, but teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." KCDF takes this paradigm a step further, moving "beyond fishing," and emphasising the importance of "helping the fisherman to gain access and increased control over all the resources to which he has a right." The first section of the Working Paper concentrates on the value of capacity building and grantmaking as a strategy for development in general. However, KCDF's work is also making a particularly meaningful contribution to meeting the goals of Early Childhood Development. In Section Two of the paper, KCDF explains its view on the value of a holistic development approach to improving the well-being of children. This is illustrated with a description of the work of KCDF with the Nyuat and El-barta projects, two of the Bernard van Leer Foundation's partner organisations in the Samburu district of Kenya. This description of KCDF's approach to development can be informative for readers working as programme staff, policy makers or academics, whose interests lie in finding ways to achieve local autonomy and participation. Funders and other development agencies will find that KCDF gives a useful description of the role that local grantmaking and endowment building can play in furthering community development; and of how a local community foundation can make a difference in this respect. Finally, the publication will appeal to a wide readership interested in concrete examples of integrated projects in support of the development of the young child. A glossary is included. (Contains 22 footnotes.)

The Internet is a revolution unfolding before our eyes. There is concern that this revolution will increase class and racial differences and that a new digital divide between information haves and information have-nots will exacerbate existing levels of inequality in American society. This paper examines how the Internet has been tapped to deliver information about the schools in ways that either explicitly or implicitly try to cross the digital divide. First, the paper looks at several examples of websites that are trying to cross the digital divide by presenting local information about the schools. Second, the paper looks at the problems with harnessing the Internet as a tool for doing research about the schools. Third, the paper illustrates some of these problems by analyzing patterns of usage of one of these websites to see if actual usage shows patterns of inequality or expanded usage. The final section of the paper looks at the possibility of harnessing the Internet in a way that goes beyond the consumer-choice model embodied in most current school-based sites to a much more expansive citizen-based model of improving schools and, even more ambitiously, building stronger communities. (Contains approximately 87 references. (Author)

This working paper is intended to enrich an initial description of alternative businesses and A-Way Express Couriers, in particular. (A-Way, a 12-year-old community organization, is a psychiatric survivor-run alternative business.) The paper begins with a brief commentary on the psychiatric survivor movement and research on it. The paper traces the emergence and entrenchment of learning as a key feature of psychiatric survivor-run or alternative businesses. The methodology used is to re-read previous research projects and results through the lens of informal learning. Early research on psychiatric survivor-run businesses is reviewed in view of a definition of social learning with these three dimensions: solidarity learning, reshaping the definition of self, and organizational learning. A more detailed examination of informal learning processes at A-Way builds on a previously generated profile and is organized according to the three dimensions of social learning. Comments are based on face-to-face interviews with five employees from each of these three groupings within A-Way: couriers on commission, part-time office staff on salaries, and full-time management on salaries. The final section constructs a narrative account of one woman's learning at A-Way--how over nine years she moved from courier to executive director of the business on a journey that evokes the richness and complexity of informal learning in this context. (YLB)

This paper describes how the trend toward building new schools on large sites far from existing development centers, called "school sprawl" or "school giantism," can have far-reaching impacts on school children, school districts, and the larger community.Educators and parents express concern that large schools reduce educational outcomes, particularly for at-risk youth.Schools that are more distant can diminish student participation in extracurricular activities, parental involvement, and taxpayer support. Students are walking and cycling to school less,which contributes to alarming rates of childhood obesity. Many suggest that the growing physical disconnect between schools and community helps create a level of student anonymity and social alienation that sets the stage for tragic events like Columbine. Smart growth groups, which traditionally have not weighed in on educational matters, are now questioning the same trend. Rather than build shopping mall schools at the edge of town, smart growth advocates encourage the continued use of existing schools and the construction of new schools on infill sites within existing neighborhoods.Smart growth advocates' interest in neighborhood schools dovetails with education reformers' interest in small schools, presenting an important opportunity for collaboration. Scattered efforts are underway across the country addressing the shared interests of educator sand smart growth advocates. (Author/EV)

The advent of schooling, the cash economy, and new political systems have brought about many situations providing challenges to the Samburu and the Turkana nomadic pastoralists in northern Kenya. This report details the experiences of the staff of the El-barta project in working with communities within a situation of isolation, harsh climatic conditions, and few economic resources. Chapter 1 of the paper introduces the organization and describes the scope of their work in enabling groups and individuals to take responsibility for building the capacity of their communities in order to enhance young children's development. El-barta works closely with community organizations through its six departments--health, education, food security, communications, finance, and administration--and links its interventions to the communities through three main community groups: focus groups, function committees, and opinion leaders. Chapters 2 through 5 examine different aspects of the El-barta project, showing how they are tied together in an integrated program: (1) early childhood development program, building on positive traditional child-rearing practices and facilitating the development of community day care centers; (2) health interventions, including medical care, maternal-child health, nutrition, personal hygiene, and safe home environment; (3) food security interventions, including drought preparedness, improved food practices, and income generating activities; and (4) further education interventions, including out-of-school programming and adult literacy training. Chapter 6 details some of the obstacles to program implementation and identifies potential goals for further enhancing early childhood development. The report concludes by asserting that it is critical to have an integrated program when working in a harsh environment and imperative to keep as many good traditional practices as possible for a society in transition from traditional to modern ways of life. (KB)

An Australian national task force examined a number of areas related to achieving educational equality for Australia's Indigenous peoples. This paper looks at health issues, particularly during ages 0-8, that may affect the educational outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Chapter 1 discusses the importance of the early years of life in terms of brain development and future potential; the low educational attainment of Indigenous students and low Indigenous participation in early childhood services; population statistics; and the national policy context on Indigenous education, including national efforts to accelerate Indigenous progress and recommendations on interagency cooperation between the health and education sectors. Chapter 2 summarizes findings on nine health issues of concern: the lower life expectancy at birth and higher mortality rates at all ages for Indigenous Australians; low birth weight and failure to thrive; malnutrition and poor quality diet; high rates of infectious diseases and high incidence of educationally significant hearing impairment due to otitis media; social and emotional well-being; substance abuse; adolescent pregnancy; childhood trauma, including that related to family violence and child abuse; and childhood injuries. Chapter 3 describes Indigenous conceptions of health and well-being as encompassing family and community, and current initiatives that link community development and capacity building to childhood health issues. The appendix presents the Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the 21st Century. (Contains 43 references.) (SV)

The socioeconomic contributions of adult learning to community were examined from a social capital perspective. The concepts of human capital and social capital were differentiated, and the relationship between learning, human capital, and social capital was explored. The relevance of social capital in describing the wider benefits of adult learning was illustrated through the examples of a study of the impact of the adult and community education (ACE) sector on communities and society in Victoria, Australia, and a study of a group of African women refugees located in a suburb of a large Australian capital city. The studies documented wider benefits of ACE in the following areas: health; education and learning; employment and quality of working life; time and leisure; command over goods and services; physical environment; social environment; and personal safety. Social capital building was shown to be implicated in effective adult learning in the following ways: (1) social capital is involved in program design, management, and delivery whether it is explicitly recognized as such or not; (2) the processes of drawing on and building social capital are part and parcel of the learning process; and (3) social capital can be a direct or indirect benefit of learning. (Contains 27 references.) (MN)

Social capital helps communities respond positively to change. Research into managing change through learning in communities and in small businesses, particularly farm businesses, has highlighted the importance of relationships between people and the formal and informal structure of communities to the quality of outcomes experienced by communities. Communities can be geographic communities or communities-of-common-purpose, such as agricultural commodity organizations or discussion groups. This paper reviews research into managing change through learning and social capital, presents a model of the simultaneous building and use of social capital, and explores the ways in which learning as part of an agricultural community can be used to bring benefits to isolated geographic communities. The model presented stems from studies in Tasmania (Australia) of the informal learning process that builds resilient communities. The two-stage model conceptualizes the way in which social capital is used and built in interactions among individuals. The first stage depicts social capital at the micro level of one-on-one interactions, focusing on knowledge resources and identity resources (identification with and commitment to the community). The second stage of the model outlines the interrelationship of micro-level social capital processes with community-level and societal-level social capital resources. (Contains 54 references.) (Author/SV)

The Kuru Development Trust is a development support program that is owned and controlled by the communities in which the organization operates, the majority being San, or Bushmen, communities in the Kalahari region of Africa. Following a holistic approach to development, Kuru is involved in a wide range of activities, including income-generating projects, a savings and loan plan, cultural activities, a training program, and a preschool program. After almost a decade of experience in community development work, the Board members of the Kuru Development Trust wanted to enable their organization to serve a larger geographic area. Recognizing the tremendous problems that are encountered in grassroots community development programs in general, a clear and simple strategy was needed, one that would specifically make space for the cultural aspects of the San people. This working paper describes the efforts that were undertaken to define this strategy. The paper reviews lessons learned by Kuru over the years about community development, and describes the organization's study of different community development programs, particularly the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in Gilgit, Pakistan. The paper then describes in detail what Kuru decided are crucial aspects of a community development strategy, which it adopted and called "community-owned development" in its move toward becoming a regional support organization. (EV)

This paper reviews the key issues and methodologies involved in the replication of social programs, as they pertain to non-profit sector development in the United States and in international development. The related process of knowledge transfer and dissemination, as well as the more specific strategies involved in replication and going-to-scale are examined. Strategies discussed include the franchise approach, mandated replication, staged replication, concept replication, and spontaneous replication. The universalist and contextualist approaches are also discussed. A principal argument of the paper is that there are few effective and sustainable programs reaching out to large numbers, and that these are difficult to establish. The progress of replication efforts is often measured in terms of criteria such as the effect on participants, the numbers reached, the spread of project sites over a region, or the volume of services extended. Advances are seldom gauged against overall needs in a given country or region; the result is that program impact is often localized and may not significantly affect the total target population. Politicians, researchers, donors and policymakers are advised to use caution in evaluating proposals, as not all of them consider the broader impact of the program. (JPB)

A study explored the ways that front-line community development workers across Canada gained information needed to work with women participants in community economic development initiatives. Data were gathered through focus groups, a preliminary study with 15 key informants employed in community development organizations, and structured telephone interviews. One theme that emerged from the interview data was the existence of a large number of differing knowledge classes related to social situations, the legitimization of knowledge, and the practice of community development. Collisions among these different perspectives appear to create a "discord of knowing." The study also found that while gender affects an individual's experience and participation within a community setting, it cannot be considered in isolation from class, ethnicity, geography, disability, and other social factors. Drawing on anecdotal illustrations from the data, the study found that workers construct a knowledge set derived from a synthesis of formal and informal learning sources and apply the resulting perspective in development work. In the process, collisions occur and boundaries are challenged among and within academic, government, business, and practice orientations. The study concluded that agreement is emerging among practitioners about what is needed for successful development outcomes, but that their insights are not necessarily recognized as legitimate, especially by funding agencies. Changing such structural attitudes toward the value of informal local knowledge is vital for the success of development efforts. (Contains 31 references.) (KC)

A preliminary study explored how Canadian practitioners who are engaged in community economic development (CED) that includes or is specific to women gain new information relevant to their work and how they incorporate that new learning into their daily practice. Interview questions focused on sources of information, learning opportunities and processes, relative usefulness of different kinds of knowledge, and how practitioners managed to apply new knowledge to their work. Results indicated nearly all 15 participants identified lack of an organized source of information about women's CED as a problem. Other major themes were that all respondents reported multiple work duties that required different sets of knowledge; many sources were used to obtain the diverse information practitioners required; participant ratings suggested most organizations are engaged in ongoing efforts to incorporate and improve on CED best practice; failure to implement available knowledge was usually due to a lack of resources such as time and money; practitioners frequently reported applying their knowledge concerning class, gender, and other diversity issues to educate others involved in CED; and, for many practitioners, a clash of ideas about what counted as learning and valid knowledge occurred on a variety of fronts. The strongest implication of the results was the need for more CED funding. (Appendixes include interview results.) (YLB)

A project has been designed to identify how a non-metropolitan community consolidates and develops sustainable social and economic activity. For many authors, the political position reiterating vocational education and training (VET) as the pivotal contributor to building national economic sustainability is framed in terms of human capital imperatives, economic rationalism, and corporate managerialism. Contemporary research on VET's value or outcomes often focuses on industry outcomes or particular activity rather than value to its wider community. The project would examine whether models of vocational provision constructed to service one sector, as opposed to mutualities of sectors, may mitigate against attempts by non-metropolitan communities to reposition themselves economically and socially in an increasingly globalized economy. A more inclusive definition of VET may be appropriate to more accurately describe the true value of VET activity and its benefits to communities in their quest for economic and social sustainability. The research method combines the focused interview process with open-ended questions. The sample consists of two strata: those employed in 17 industry groupings delineated for benchmarking performance in VET in Australia and those affiliated with community groupings operating in the study community. (Contains 56 references.) (YLB)

The needs of grassroots farmers in Uganda and Ghana for locally developed print materials were examined through a postal survey of nearly 200 organizations and examinations of 75 autonomous farmer groups and 95 organizations sharing agricultural information in both countries. Both printed agricultural information relevant to grassroots farmers and networks for distributing such existing information were in short supply. Most large organizations directed their efforts mainly toward networking with similar organizations rather than toward visiting grassroots farmers or meeting their information needs. Group support to grassroots farmers was deemed very important because it provides a safety net that allows members to share and try out new ideas. The study confirmed the existence of considerable potential for supporting extension services, nongovernmental organizations, mass media services, farmers, animators, and literacy services in the generation and production of agricultural information in local languages and aimed at group usage. (Thirty-two tables/figures and 100 references are included. The following items are among those appended: sample pages of the publication "Footsteps"; samples of materials in local languages; information about the survey respondents; a list of languages used for sharing information by survey respondents; maps showing areas and groups visited; lists of organizations contacted; and sample newsletters and locally generated materials.) (MN)

Of the nearly 14,500 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) now registered with Egypt's Ministry of Social Affairs, 25% are inactive, 3% are less than 3 years old, and 7% are private member associations. The Egyptian government's promotion of specific social programs and service models in the NGO sector began after the October War of 1973. Egyptian NGOs, which are primarily politically neutral, fall into five categories: community development associations; religious (Muslim and Christian) welfare associations; private member associations; nonreligious social welfare associations; and scientific and public cultural organizations. In 1992, Egypt's NGO sector had an estimated total annual revenue of $85-110 million (U.S.), with private donations and activity (user) fees accounting for two-thirds of those revenues. Key NGO services and activities include the following: day care programs, sewing classes, health services, aid to widow-headed households, skills training and productive activities, general education, and religious instruction. Most Egyptian NGO services aim to serve the middle and lower-middle classes rather than the poor. The leaders and members of Egyptian NGOs are overwhelmingly male. NGO services are concentrated in urban areas. The sector is characterized by rivalries between associations at both the community and national levels. (The document contains 26 references and 10 tables and figures.) (MN)

A case study in a rural Australian township attempted to determine indicators verifying the existence of social capital. Social capital is provisionally defined as the networks, norms, and trust that constitute the capacity of individuals, workplaces, groups, organizations, and communities to strive for sustainable futures in a changing socioeconomic environment. Participants in the study were chosen based on recommendations of community members on who provides them with help, advice, or information. Analysis of interviews, tape-recorded community meetings and interactions, and personal diaries identified three categories of resources that people draw on as they interact with each other: 1) knowledge resources, or the shared knowledge of community, personal, individual, and collective information; 2) identity resources, or the shared understandings of personal, individual, and collective identities; and 3) consolidated resources, the common understanding and familiarity with community assets used reciprocally for mutual benefit. A set of indicators of these resources used in "community interactive productivity" was then developed. Interactive productivity is viewed as the community learning processes by which social capital is created. The terms "community learning" and "capacity building," and the possible causal link between social capital and economic well-being are discussed. (Contains 56 references.) (TD)

Rural communities with populations of under 15,000 are the least resilient to negative economic shocks, but local initiatives can reduce the negative impact of rapid economic change. Data from a study of three rural Australian communities and one "community-of-common-purpose" were used to develop a model of how the informal learning process inherent in community action builds resilient communities. Learning, social capital, and change are interlinked. The model identifies the resources used in the learning process, which are the resources that form the social capital of the community. These social capital resources are: (1) a knowledge of who can provide advice, support, information, and resources; and (2) identity resources, that is, a sense of belonging or willingness to act for the benefit of the community. The model illustrates that social capital is built as it is used. Informal learning interactions help people get to know each other and develop networks. They also build a commitment to the community and people's confidence to act for community benefit. Both quantity and quality of interactions have a role in the development of social capital. Qualitative elements such as shared language, shared experiences, trust, personal development, and identification with the community help build knowledge and identity resources and thus improve the quality of learning interactions. An understanding of the ways in which communities develop and use social capital as they learn will help build resilient rural and regional communities. (Contains 41 references.) (TD)

In rural coastal communities, trade-offs between conserving and developing environmentally sensitive resources are acute. At the community level, part-time volunteers and citizen officials are asked to make complex decisions based on ambiguous and frequently contradictory "scientific" evidence of economic and environmental relationships. The conditions surrounding these decisions often are characterized by limited access to information and conflict about the choices available and their consequences. This paper summarizes one community's efforts to integrate technical and social-economic information in a series of educational events leading to informed community consensus about the use of the community's waterfront. In Oconto, Wisconsin, on Lake Michigan's Green Bay, the waterfront is a fragile wetland resource that could be used in several different and potentially conflicting ways. A University of Wisconsin extension team that has provided development assistance to the area for the past decade undertook to facilitate the community's discussions of competing options. The team moved away from the conventional model of community intervention to one featuring emergent and flexible design, cyclic process, synergy between external and indigenous knowledge, holistic approach, and inclusion of diverse interests. The project demonstrated that judicious use of community surveys; a "locally acceptable" facilitator; a local advisory committee; and the cyclic process of asking, listening, analyzing, and reporting can identify local preferences and generate community energy for specific options. Contains 23 references. (SV)

Children in Africa starve to death or fail to thrive and achieve their full potential as a result of social problems that have their roots in both national and international issues. In many African countries, parents are unable to feed their children because farmers no longer grow enough food and prefer to cultivate cash crops that are exported to foreign countries to service debts to rich industrial nations. This paper recommends a multilevel and integrated approach to defining and solving the problem of child survival and child development in Africa. The following issues are explored: (1) the development of an agenda for dealing with the fundamental issue of Africa's underdevelopment that is in the best interest of Africans and their children; (2) the promotion of child welfare through the empowerment of families and communities; (3) the use of the African concepts of childhood and socialization, and the strong emotions and expectations that Africans have for their children, as the bases for any campaigns or programs for promoting child welfare and development; (4) the empowerment of Africans by means of technical information; and (5) the creation of public awareness in Africa, as a result of which the general public, communities that are at risk, and various other national and international groups will become informed about the issues and problems of child survival and child development in Africa. (SM)

Over the last decade, there have been rapid developments in field methodologies within participatory approaches to rural and agricultural development. At the same time, the use of "soft systems" methodologies for bringing potentially conflictual or disparate actors together for action has spread from the business world to other applications. These new methodologies are based on the ideas that: (1) action for change and impossible as a voluntary process without a commitment to change and that participation is a necessary condition for commitment, and (2) complex decisions in conditions of uncertainty and immediacy are best handled from a systems perspective. Information about and competence in using and adapting these methodologies remain largely in the store of "craft knowledge" of professionals. Academic institutions have been slow to train students in the emerging professionalism of systems management and participatory research and extension, and have tended to view such professional work practices and skills as best developed in the field. This paper outlines reasons why such a view is no longer viable; outlines principles and goals for training and practice in rural development, agricultural research, and extension; describes efforts of a few universities worldwide to address these training needs; and examines questions about whether the needed skills can be taught in the classroom. Two university innovations in this area are described: systems-based curricula at the University of Western Sydney (Australia) emphasizing experiential learning, student reflection, and problem solving; and an intensive 3-week course on participatory research and extension at Guelph University (Ontario). Contains over 100 references. (SV)

Rural poverty and wide-ranging environmental concerns are some of the problems driving a growing public debate on rural issues across the United Kingdom. This briefing paper assesses the contribution that a community development approach can make to these issues. Rural areas have a long history of collective action, from farm families helping each other at harvest time to communal efforts to provide village services, schools, carnivals, and drama events. Recent decades have seen increasing outside efforts to influence policies, decisions, and trends that threaten local areas, such as school closings, environmental issues, and large new housing developments. The role and challenge of community development is to reinforce local collective action where it is already occurring, and encourage more communities to acquire the confidence and skills to take collective action. Chapters set the rural context; identify broad trends related to rural population, changing employment, declining services, the market economy, and rural-urban conflicts about the environment; provide examples of effective community work around village services, schools, community centers, housing, economic development, village appraisals, and environmental action; and identify the main agencies and programs in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The booklet concludes by recommending consolidation of the community work occupation; promotion of a community approach; appreciation of the Europe-wide perspective; a reappraisal of values; development of political responsibility and citizenship; and adoption of a more strategic approach. Contains 19 references and 29 organizational contacts in the United Kingdom and Europe. (TD)

Current research on the relationship between home, school, and community is reviewed and juxtaposed to perspectives on communities developed by scholars of families and child development, community developers, and urban sociologists. Research findings suggest the importance of learning more about the communities in which family involvement projects are located. Researchers and school staff should become part of community mapping efforts, which would not only strengthen the links between schools, universities, and the community, but would also provide rich information about community assets. The current work of community developers suggests that looking at the school from the vantage point of the community shows it to be an essential player in community redevelopment. Partnerships between schools and businesses and community agencies have been one of the most studied aspects of community involvement in schools. Researchers now need to focus on the various kinds of school-based comprehensive services being started across the United States. In addition, the social networks families use to assist them in their relationships with schools should be explored. (Contains 65 references.) (SLD)

Applications of telecommunications technologies in rural businesses, schools, health care institutions, and government agencies can help make these institutions more efficient and effective, overcome problems of rural isolation, and diversify rural economies. This report considers some of the issues surrounding these possibilities and discusses the challenges raised by two requirements for such benefits to accrue: the need for a rural public telecommunications infrastructure that is capable of supporting advanced equipment and services at reasonable prices; and the need for communities to make informed decisions about the planning, purchase, implementation, and evaluation of new information technologies. Four primary goals are recommended: (1) a rural service delivery system comparable to the urban infrastructure in quality, availability, and cost; (2) adequate preparation of rural communities to plan for, implement, and evaluate new services and equipment; (3) access by rural communities to adequate capital financing and other sources of funding for equipment and services; and (4) telecommunications-related development strategies that are integrated with the larger economic development strategies of the community and region. More specific suggestions are also delineated. The report calls for a coordinated effort by telecommunications policy makers, the telecommunications industry, and economic development professionals to help achieve these goals. (RAH)

Community promoters are community members who are selected and trained to perform specific tasks in a project or program. Promoters have worked in education projects throughout Latin American since the 1960s, and their use in programs has shown to boost program success. Whether promoters work in externally directed programs or in more autonomous settings, they are most effective if they are selected from the community itself and share the sociocultural surroundings of program participants. The selection of would-be promoters should be dictated by their personal qualities and the tasks they will perform. Selection criteria should reflect a mix of community- and organization-developed desires/needs. The strategies selected to train promoters must relate the knowledge/technical skills required of promoters and the cultural values/guidelines that influence their attitudes/code of conduct. The most commonly used training strategy is that of transference, which means training promoters and having them in turn train grassroots groups. Another training model is based on participatory methods. Other key issues that must be resolved on a program-by-program basis are payment/funding of promoters and the relationship between promoters and professionals. (MN)

By 1985, almost 2,500 Ethiopian Jews, who call themselves Beta Israel, had settled in Israel, with more than 1,600 in permanent housing in 2 major areas. This mass immigration caused strains on Israeli society and on the immigrants. The Bernard van Leer Foundation funded the Community and Education Project for Beta Israel to assist in the absorption of Ethiopian Jews into Israeli society. Programs sponsored by the project included supervised children's play groups, morning and afternoon child care services, a homework assistance program, a home visiting program, and various adult education classes. The project received support from municipal social service agencies, but its relations with the Ethiopian community were hampered by internal differences in the community. Factors that affected the project included the absence of communal institutions in the Ethiopian community, and various community demands. As the project evolved, it developed an increased knowledge of the community served, professionalization of staff, and routinization of activities. Community changes that occurred during the course of the project included an increased autonomy of the immigrant community and its members, improved child nutrition, and greater independence for women. A review of the project considers funding issues and the moral dilemma that arises when a developmental agent becomes involves with another culture. A bibliography of 31 items is provided. (BC)

The Bernard van Leer Foundation sponsors nontraditional, nonschool programs designed to improve the chances that preschoolers will enroll in school. In these programs and other informal education efforts, the community facilitator plays an important role. Typically, the facilitator is a member of the community who works without remuneration as a nonprofessional human resource. Facilitators serve as intermediaries between the institution sponsoring the educational program and the community in which it is based. This booklet on the role of community facilitators draws from discussions that took place at a workshop for program organizers held in February, 1990 in Caracas, Venezuela. Chapter 1 focuses on the place of the community and the facilitator in the educational strategies of Latin America. This chapter provides background on the foundation's role in promoting informal education, the role of facilitators, issues of community development and popular education, and the foundation's Latin American experiences. Chapter 2 offers a look at the work of facilitators as education agents. In Chapter 3, the selection and training of facilitators is described. A case study of El Programa No Escolarizado de Educacion Inicial (PRONEI), a nonschool program for young children in Peru, is presented, as is information on training strategies, the need for systematization, and relationships between educational professionals and facilitators. Chapter 4 compares models that use volunteer and paid facilitators and raises questions about the institutionalization and continued funding of programs that use paid staff. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are presented in the fifth and last chapter. A list of workshop participants and additional information on the PRONEI program are appended. (AC)

This paper reports an experiment in over 3,000 Indonesian villages designed to test the role of performance incentives in improving the efficacy of aid programs. Villages in a randomly-chosen one-third of subdistricts received a block grant to improve 12 maternal and child health and education indicators, with the size of the subsequent year's block grant depending on performance relative to other villages in the subdistrict. Villages in remaining subdistricts were randomly assigned to either an otherwise identical block grant program with no financial link to performance, or to a pure control group. We find that the incentivized villages performed better on health than the non-incentivized villages, particularly in less developed areas, but found no impact of incentives on education. We find no evidence of negative spillovers from the incentives to untargeted outcomes, and no evidence that villagers manipulated scores. The relative performance design was crucial in ensuring that incentives did not result in a net transfer of funds toward richer areas. Incentives led to what appear to be more efficient spending of block grants, and led to an increase in labor from health providers, who are partially paid fee-for-service, but not teachers. On net, between 50-75% of the total impact of the block grant program on health indicators can be attributed to the performance incentives.

Linking between schools in the United Kingdom and schools in sub-Saharan Africa has been a feature of the educational landscape for more than twenty years, but became a government priority between 2000 and 2010. Whilst the interest in Ireland was less, both countries resourced linking programmes primarily as a means of raising awareness of development issues. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) also became involved in school linking during the first decade of the twenty-first century with Plan UK and Link Community Development (Link) being the leading organisations in this field. However, due to funding constraints and change in United Kingdom government policy post 2010, both of these NGOs ended their linking programmes in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Link's involvement in school linking came from a development perspective; links were primarily seen as a mechanism for improving schools in sub-Saharan Africa. Development education only became a main feature of their linking programme with their European Union funded project, Partners in Development (PiD), which ran from 2010 to 2012. This project was funded from a development awareness budget line, but the NGO's proposal included development goals within the project. This became a major source of tension that was unresolved throughout the life of the project. This report is an evaluation of the "Partners in Development" project that was based on linking schools in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, with schools in Ghana, Malawi, Uganda, and South Africa. The evidence gathered was based on a combination of quantitative-based questionnaires, interviews with key staff within Link, and in-depth data gathered from a number of schools in Scotland. The main findings of the evaluation are as follows: (1) The Link Schools Programme (LSP) was clearly valued, but its impact was different in the United Kingdom and Ireland from that in South Africa, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda; (2) The breadth of schools involved, particularly in the United Kingdom, suggests that the programme reached different schools from those which have been involved in other linking programmes; (3) The project suffered from funding criteria that continually focused on a target-driven approach; (4) Link staff became too heavily involved in administration and support; (5) As a consequence, many of the issues that often emerge in linking activities were not fully addressed; (6) The website was popular and the Solar Connect component that provided internet access to some of the schools in Africa was highly valued; and (7) Supported links developed by the Link model clearly have value. The following appendices are included: (1) Breakdown of schools participating in the Teacher Survey; (2) Rating of the Link Programme services. UK & Ireland schools; (3) Rating of the Link Programme services. African schools; (4) Profile of activities by school characteristics; (5) Evaluation Questionnaire; and (6) Focus Group Questions for Teachers in Scottish Link Schools--June 2012.

Economic and political turmoil have led to a dramatic fall in living standards in the Republic of Georgia. Rural areas have been hit particularly hard, suffering from increasing marginalization; worsening access to roads, information, health care facilities and markets; and dilapidation of health and education establishments. In an effort to channel scarce public resources and international aid to their best uses, this paper evaluates the impact of various types of rural community infrastructure rehabilitation on household well-being, using household and community-level survey data. The sample included 144 school, road, and water rehabilitation projects carried out in 106 rural villages during 1998-2000. The empirical approach utilized the panel structure of the data to control for time-invariant unobservables at the community level by applying propensity-score-matched double difference comparison. Results indicate that improvements in school and road infrastructure produced significant welfare gains for the poor at the village and country levels. The impact of water rehabilitation projects was ambiguous. School rehabilitation projects produced the largest gains for the poor and positively affected attendance and enrollment rates. Methodologically, this analysis shows that ad hoc community surveys matched with ongoing nationally representative surveys can provide a feasible and low-cost impact evaluation tool. (Contains 40 references) (Author/SV)