A quantitative approach to accountability in community development ignores important aspects of the process, and a qualitative approach often fails to demonstrate to the public community development's impact. The use of interpretive methods, such as those used in the natural resources and recreation fields, can help people understand community…

Although most school districts and schools are routinely involved in data collection, they do not typically use the data they collect in a systematic fashion to identify strengths and weaknesses and develop improvement strategies. One reason for the lack of data use is the perception that the data are being collected for someone else's purposes.…