Rural sociologists figure prominently in the move towards public sociology. The paper takes up Michael Burawoy's call for public sociology and discusses what rural sociologists have to offer to publics and how we stand to gain as a discipline in working with publics. The paper argues that rural sociologists' ability to adopt a cosmopolitan view…

This article presents an interview with Katrina Bledsoe, a senior research associate with Planning, Research & Evaluation Services (PRES) Associates in Washington, D.C. Dr. Bledsoe was a faculty member in the Psychology Department at The College of New Jersey. She was trained under Stewart Donaldson at Claremont Graduate University (CGU) and…

The state of Vermont closed its only institution for persons with intellectual disabilities in 1993 and moved to a totally community-based model of services. Here we describe the characteristics of the near exhaustive statewide sample of adult male sex offenders with intellectual disabilities (N = 103) who received these services between 1993 and…

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and…

This report to Congress provides critical information about the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services for Children and their Families Program (CMHI), including the characteristics of children, youth, and families as they enter the CMHI; the outcomes attained for children and youth, and their caregivers and families after entry into the…

Although widely available, little is known about the effectiveness of youth cessation treatments delivered in real-world settings. The authors recruited a nonprobability sample of 41 community-based group-format programs that treated at least 15 youth per year and included evidence-based treatment components. Data collection included longitudinal…

This article reports the findings of a study exploring the effects of using videoconferencing (VC) to deliver dance instruction to rural communities. The context of the study is a university community partnership run through blended live and VC instruction with elementary and middle school students in Eloy, Arizona. This research is part of a…

The Duke Endowment launched its Child Abuse Prevention Initiative in 2002 by funding two program sites, the Durham Family Initiative in Durham, North Carolina, and Strong Communities in Greenville, South Carolina. Both sites aimed to reduce rates of child abuse, improve parenting practices and behaviors, strengthen community service systems, and…

This case study explores how a community-based truancy prevention program mediates against absenteeism, truancy, and dropping out and positively transforms the lives of Black and Latina/Latino middle school youth. Findings suggest that community-school partnerships are critical in the quest to combat truancy and the alarming dropout rate among…

To determine the level of involvement in service learning among community colleges, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) conducted a national survey of over 1,100 colleges in spring 1995. The following institutional and program profile, based on responses from 773 institutions, emerged from the survey: (1) four out of five…

No institution is better positioned to address the problems facing today's communities than the community college. The colleges are community-based and, through community-based programming (CBP), can place themselves at the center of the organizations and institutions, and collaborate with formal or informal leaders devoted to resolving community…

This article describes two art-based service-learning experiences that can serve as models for an authentic community-university partnership by challenging college students' sense of place through an examination of "others'" places. College students face displacement in adjusting to a new location and a new direction in life, while youth…

The School Community Involvement System (SCIS) is presented as a model community program that encourages educators, parents and community members to work together to meet the needs of children and society. This model is intended as a comprehensive systematic program for community involvement and communication in the school experience, as well as a…

The Alternate Learning Project (ALP) is a community based public high school in Providence, Rhode Island. The ALP student population participates in a program offering individualized basic skills instruction, college preparatory courses, career exploration activities, and a broad arts curriculum. Throughout, the emphasis is on continuous…

The objective of this paper is to discuss the utilization of Stake's theory of responsive evaluation by a unit in state government charged with the evaluation of the Illinois Migrant Program. Through interviews with state and local Title I staff, we were able to discover program purposes and concerns and to later conceptualize these concerns into…