Planning to meet the needs of the future is a critical concern of an Arizona school district. The Mesa Action Planning System (MAPS) provides a framework for community involvement with a 200-member community-based planning committee, selected from constituent groups, and a 12-member steering committee. The planning committee will receive a summary…

Rural economic development presents a paradox of growth in population and jobs without corresponding improvement in local economic well-being. Four forces may impede nonmetropolitan development efforts. Growth of multiestablishment corporations makes traditional regional economic development models unrealistic. Rural industrialization is socially,…

This paper describes the model and process developed by the Connecticut education department to assist schools in improving their effectiveness. The report offers an operational definition of the term "effectiveness" and summarizes the research that provides the conceptual base for the model. The characteristics selected from this…

This report describes implementation of a districtwide planning model in the Mesa, Arizona, Public Schools. Figures illustrate planning processes throughout the report. Intended as an implementive framework, the planning system's purposes are to assist decision making about resource allocation, program direction, progress measurement, and district…