Nationally, the demand for charter schools is high, yet access to affordable school facilities is a continued barrier to the growth of the charter sector. This paper, produced by the National Charter School Resource Center (NCSRC) in partnership with the Colorado League of Charter Schools (CLCS) and Momentum Strategies & Research, addresses…

Poverty is a dehumanising condition for every one. It erodes human rights of the affected whether women or men. Poverty subjects an individual to a state of powerlessness, hopelessness, and lack of self-esteem, confidence, and integrity, leading to a situation of multidimensional vulnerability. Poverty has a gender dimension since women and men…

The revolution in telecommunications technology will be a driving force in the future economic growth of rural areas. Federal and state universal service policies requiring delivery of service to rural areas were major factors in how the telephone system evolved during the 20th century. In the 1990s, telephone penetration rates were similar for…

This case study of a Korean Village's experience with subsidiary income-generating work illustrates one family's role as change agents and the involvement of women in the development of their community. (SK)

Endemic problems in EU "lagging rural regions" (LRRs) are well documented and various support mechanisms have long been in place to help overcome structural difficulties. Nevertheless, new rural development architectures are now being sought and some scholars have posited that LRRs may benefit from the "quality (re)turn" in…

Outlines approaches taken to development in lesser developed countries in the past, discusses the importance of appropriate technology and human development, and summarizes the information needs of the rural poor in developing nations. Information dissemination programs using video- and audiotape technology in Bangladesh, Guatemala, and Peru are…

Directed at the chronically unemployed, poor single parents, and welfare recipients, microenterprise programs provide access to loans and technical training for the express purpose of creating small-scale self-sufficient entrepreneurs no longer dependent on public support. Lessons from international microenterprise programs, federal funding…

The articles in this issue are mainly concerned with how to reach the poorest and most disadvantaged sections of the population and how best to help once contact has been made. "Nijera Kori in Retrospect: In Search of an Organization of the Rural Poor" (Mohiuddin Ahmad) provides extracts from an evaluation of this grassroots,…

A combined report of the four Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs) and their partners focuses on selected outreach and research activities, projects, and accomplishments in fiscal year 1997. The report is organized around five topics identified as key issues for the mid 1990s: (1) improving economic competitiveness, diversity, and…

The rapid expansion of Appalachian Computer Services (ACS), a small Kentucky firm, was possible because of help from the state's Private Industry Councils (PICs). Federally funded, the PICs provided the necessary business-government-training partnership to recruit and train unemployed and economically disadvantaged workers for ACS' high-technology…

The Duke Endowment's Program for the Rural Carolinas is a 5-year effort to assist the revitalization of rural communities. Guiding principles of the program are that the rural Carolinas matter, this generation of workers matters, effective community development involves the entire community, solutions must be locally determined, healthy…

This brief reports on the Ford Foundation's establishment of the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) for selected institutions in economically distressed areas of the Southeast, Deep South, Southwest, Appalachia, and western Indian reservations. This is the fourth report in a series by the RCCI Documentation Team. The RCCI program challenges…

In this report, the Rural Sociological Society Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty presents 11 Pathways from Poverty (PfP) state-team efforts and accomplishments. Education and training are themes that appear here and there throughout the strategies described. Many PfP state teams have formed alliances with state rural development councils that…

In 2000, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), in cooperation with local development districts, nonprofit organizations, and many small municipalities, expanded programs to help Appalachia's distressed counties become economically competitive. The effort calls for increased funding for technical assistance and capacity building in distressed…

Stating that rural extension education in developing countries has neglected small, poor farmers, the author suggests a model changing extension services approach to concentrate on motivating poor farmers to increase production and raise their standard of living through localized personal contact, providing useful technology involving the whole…