Drawing on data from six communities in Kansas and Iowa, we explore the factors that are related to community members' current levels of overall support for local ethanol plants. What are residents' opinions about the benefits and drawbacks of local ownership of ethanol plants? How does that awareness lead to overall support of plants? Our…

In the light of the global trends towards international assessment, inter-country comparison and policy convergence, this article critically discusses the contextual factors that influence educational success in Shanghai and Singapore. Focussing on the structural and cultural frames, this article maintains that the educational achievement in…

This paper highlights factors that either facilitated or hampered the work of a local Safe Schools Coalition in a Rocky Mountain state in advocating adoption and implementation of their school district's policies that include sexual orientation. Non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation and gender identity are needed to help stop…

The 1989 defeat by voters in Fremont (California) of the nation's first measure to fund child care services at the local level provides valuable lessons for generating public support for child care services. Information was gathered from interviews with 23 city policymakers and administrators, from campaign materials, and from participant…

Following two-failed school bond issues in 1995 and 1998, one mid-sized rural school district organized an effort that led to two successful school bond elections in 2001 and 2003. The school district's strategic plan mirrored many of the recommendations for successful bond referendums published in School Bond Success: A Strategy for Building…

In reaction to the economic risks associated with an over reliance on oil and gas exports, residents of the Midland/Odessa area of Texas began seeking diversification options for the local economy and, in 1986, formed the Midland/Odessa Health and Retirement Endeavor (MOHRE). This non-profit corporation was formed to examine the feasibility of…

School districts often find themselves in a double bind when dealing with the public: they seek public input, but also are vulnerable to manipulation by organized interest groups that are not representative of the entire community. The dilemma is how to procure the overall community's public judgment of a topic and allow widespread participation.…

Reversing two decades of school-community turmoil, Valley View--a small, rural community in northeastern Vermont--approved a bond issue for school construction. This case study uses organizational and systems theory to examine structural, political, symbolic, and human resource influences on changing community attitudes. Contains 19 references.…

This case study examines the process of opening and developing a new high school, with a specific emphasis on the evolution of its culture. Guided by a theoretical framework informed by the literature on school culture, this study explores the nature of school culture, how school cultures are established, the role of the principal, and the role of…