Interviewed women leaders of community development organizations in low income neighborhoods, investigating their attributes, motivations, leadership styles, and the barriers they faced. Respondents felt tremendous urgency for meeting human needs and improving neighborhoods. Their activities were political in nature. They created social capital…

Reviews the nature of relationships within the schools' bureaucracy; analyzes the move for decentralization and community control. (Author)

These appendices include the data upon which "Citizen Organizations: A Study of Citizen Participation in Educational Decisionmaking--Final Research Report" (UD 019 754) was based. Data are provided on the variables which shaped the character and role of community organizations concerned with the school systems and school policies of…

Argues that "the pervasiveness of professional power in education which is exercised within education bureaucracies at all levels (in teacher training institutions, by teachers in the schools and through strong teachers' unions and supervisory associations) makes it virtually impossible to achieve any fudamental change in the distribution of power…

In order to examine the role and effectiveness of community organizations in increasing parental and community involvement in educational decision making, a research project was initiated which included three elements: (1) case studies documenting the behavior of organizations and internal and external factors that influence their functioning, (2)…

This paper proposes particular areas in which research is needed within the fields of community organization and community development. Proposals are based on field research and findings of a two year (1977-79) Community Citizen Organization Study. The report is organized according to the four major categories of analysis in this original…

This report focuses on the new intergovernmental relationships developing between cities, States and the Federal government as funds are "block granted." The first chapter discusses the historical background of federalism and the redistributive role of government, and puts the "new federalism" in perspective. The following…

This study examines the ways in which parents and other community members, especially urban minorities and the poor, participate in decisions that bear on the education of their children. Information concerning the role and effectiveness of community organizations in Atlanta, Boston, and Los Angeles over a 15 month period is summarized. The…

The major stimulus of the community school movement is a general dissatisfaction with the existing public education system, the greatest thrust having come from the minority groups. The two major difficulties appear to be the creation of independent schools or districts under local community control, and the development of adequate funding…

This study is focused on policy: How did the school decentralization law affect the recruitment and selection of board members? How did the legal matrix set the conditions for community boards to function? And how did these community boards pursue their policies in three key areas: personnel, budget, and curriculum? Social change requires a…