Employing an institutional case study approach, this manuscript features two high-impact learning opportunities open to Albion College students who seek to contribute to solving real-world problems in collaboration with local and surrounding communities: Albion College Community Collaborative (AC3) and Human Rights Lab. The programmatic approach…

Hydraulic fracturing has altered the face of rural communities across the United States, creating new demands for educational leaders. This in-depth qualitative study explores how rural educational leaders in a heavily drilled community experience and respond to these challenges with a focus on increased local student transiency, homelessness, and…

The Emory-Obed Watershed in Tennessee, like many other rural areas throughout the United States, is experiencing changes in economic activities and social values associated with natural resources. Informed by the interactional approach to community development, this effort strove to build community capacity so community members could more fully…

Nationally oriented institutions of the developmentalist era are being replaced by globally oriented institutions under the legitimizing cloak of efficiency and financial credibility. Meanwhile, producing communities either seek niches in the global economy or resist global pressures, thereby newly emphasizing the local. Explores the conjunction…

Talking with local merchants helps sixth-graders explore the impact of change in their community. (Editor/SJL)

With the increasing emphasis by legislators on accountability in higher education, the economic contributions of higher education to the local, regional, and state economies tend to be overlooked. This study provides estimates of both the gross and net impacts of Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) on the local Dade County economy. All categories…

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…

Presenting concepts generally applicable only to small rural regions or to local economies, this publication explains multipliers, shows how they are used in calculating impacts, and provides some criteria for determining whether a given multiplier can be used in a specific situation. Following a discussion of aggregate multipliers, which lump…

This paper examines the economic impact of Walker Technical Institute (WTI) in Georgia on its local economy. In 1994, the annual report by Georgia's Department of Technical and Adult Education found a 77% increase from 1985 in the number of students participating in classes. State financial support for the Department of Technical and Adult…

The economic problems of localities in the U.S. fall into two broad categories. Problems of low income occur if a local economy supplies too few jobs, and if the jobs that do exist pay low wages or are in the low productivity sectors of the economy. Problems stemming from low economic growth are marked either by an absolute decline or by low…

Identifies the importance of studying those western frontier communities which survived several boom bust cycles. Describes several South Pass Wyoming mining towns and urges that studies such as these be used by teachers to investigate the dynamic forces which shaped their towns and cities. (KO)

This study presents an expanded methodology for economic impact analysis to measure the impact of a community college, South Plains College (SPC), Texas, on a specified nonlocal economy. The research had four parts. First an economic impact study was conducted for SPC and its impact on the local economy of Hockley County, where the college is…

Fourteen economic development practitioners were asked to participate in a modified Delphi study that attempted to provide a level of agreement about future trends and issues that affect economic development at the county level in Ohio. Literature from several fields was reviewed to find potential trends and issues and, using a Likert-type scale,…

Satisfaction with one's community is an elusive quality related to a variety of physical and social factors. As changes in the community become imminent, levels of satisfaction may also change. Residents of two communities were periodically questioned as their personal satisfaction, (happy place, suitable size), satisfaction with services…

This paper explores changes needed in the focus and commitment of educational research to better reflect issues relevant to rural schools and their communities. Historically, educational researchers have focused on national or cosmopolitan concerns in efforts to develop widely applicable procedures for school improvement. However, improving rural…