This paper traces the historical development of New York State Small City School District (SCSD) school budget voting policy. State policymakers are currently debating whether to change from representative to referendum school budget voting in SCSDs. Following a historical analysis of the current debate, the argument is made that there no longer…

School board members' perceptions of the socialization process involved in the learning and development of their roles are described in this report. Methodology involved indepth interviews with 28 school board members from two rural and three suburban public school districts in Pennsylvania and New York, document analysis, and observation.…

This pilot study examines how a married couple with a small child integrates a 10 p.m. television news program into their weekday lives. The research focuses on how patterns of behaviors extend into television viewing, rather than how television programming influences beliefs, values, and behaviors. Ethnographic methods employed in the observation…

This agenda for educational improvement in Oakland (California) outlines community expectations of the school system and gives specific examples of what those expectations mean in practice. More than 800 individuals from neighborhood groups, churches, parent organizations, school district staff, and business and professional associations testified…

The Illinois Literacy Council's Long-Range Planning team interviewed more than 100 educators, business representatives, policy makers, and adult new readers to gather their thoughts about the state of literacy and how it might be improved. Their report raises 7 issues and presents 11 recommendations. The seven issues relate to the following: (1)…

Described are two approaches for using newspapers to teach local, regional, or state geography courses to college students. In the first approach, the instructor developed a manual to supplement an introductory geography course which examined spatial patterns of various phenomena as they are found in the Cincinnati (Ohio) metropolitan area. He…

This paper discusses the issues involved and presents an overall picture of attempts to censor the April 11, 1938 issue of "Life" magazine featuring a four-page spread of 35 pictures from the film "The Birth of a Baby." It examines contemporary news accounts from newspapers published in New York, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, New…

Control of urban development and preservations of open space have become increasingly controversial issues in recent years. This booklet was prepared to help citizens and local officials resolve these types of issues. It is intended to provide a framework for positive discussions between citizens and local officials, and includes an introduction…

This book profiles over 30 local programs and policies designed to meet the needs of children and families in cities and towns. The first chapter concerns the examination of issues related to children and families in the context of policy and planning. It calls attention to the need for comprehensiveness and coordination in the strategic…

The need for passenger transportation is widely recognized by rural communities. Shrinking federal funding has led many communities and human service agencies to experiment with innovative approaches to provide transportation services. One such approach is the use of cooperative organizations to provide needed services. A study conducted by the…

This case study documents how the school board of the city of New Rochelle, New York, handled change when it transmuted from being appointed to being elected. Local policy implications undergird such a transition. Specifically, a review of political influences and outcomes on school board policy and how the board and the city's politicians coped…

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 presents survey results from rural areas having significant levels of employment both in agriculture and in extraction industries (coal mining). Although a review of the literature suggests that rural residents may express lower levels of environmental concern than urban residents, one study proposed that rural residents in farm-related…

Assuming that neighborhood newspapers and neighborhood leaders are among the most important influences on neighborhood residents' issue agendas and definitions of issues, a study examined some of these influences by interviewing a random sample of 239 residents of a low income, urban neighborhood in Minneapolis. In addition, a purposive sample of…

A series of questions for high school students to use in interviewing or researching county and state governments are presented. Questions concerning county government are grouped into five categories: governing, administrative agencies, fiscal affairs, planning and zoning, and issues. Students investigate salaries, powers, and duties of…