Describes the play "Voices" created from 30 interviews with local residents and about 50 accompanying slide photographs. Notes that the interview subjects ranged from 15 to 91 years of age across as wide spectrum of the populace as possible. Describes how the production was an attempt to provide a hearing to a range of different voices, opinions…

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…

Case study of a community and youth leadership development program in Rural Georgia illustrates a blend of traditional and participatory strategies, including participatory action research. Evaluation demonstrates the importance of working with community culture, forming cohesive groups, choosing facilities carefully, and reconciling community and…

Survey assesses willingness to pay for programs to prevent sexual assault and class size reduction in a predominantly White female sample of 349 undergraduates. Results suggest that the prevention of sexual assault is a community issue, with substantial willingness among students to pay for risk reduction programs without regard to the benefits…

Assessment of pesticide exposure in 96 homes of migrant Latino farmworkers with preschool children found the most frequent pesticide residue to be azinphos-methyl (AZM). AZM levels in farmworker homes were related to distance from fields and number of resident agricultural workers. Children's play areas had potential for disproportionate exposure.…

Discusses the development and implementation of an academic service learning course designed to explore partnership possibilities between a university, religious organizations, and neighborhood coalitions in West Philadelphia. Course goals were twofold: for students to activate partnerships with community members and congregation participants to…

Evaluation of a project in which Botswanan extension agents used participatory rural appraisal showed that agents can develop attitudes for adopting more participatory approaches, but they are hindered by institutional and contextual constraints, such as government bureaucracy and the political economy. (SK)

Describes a model of service delivery for children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders that seeks to prevent at-risk students from being placed residentially and to return those who live in residential school to less restrictive environments. Describes the organization and critical components for the Family Support Program. Discusses…

Describes a fund raising project, the "palette of prizes," to raise money for theatre for children in Blair County, Pennsylvania. Discusses creation of theater presentations involving nearly the entire student body. Suggests 11 lessons for other communities interested in using Blair County's arts education programming as a model. Discusses…

Uses a communication perspective to explore the development of a community leadership program in an economically troubled resort city. Traces how the communication practices are used in the first year of a grassroots empowerment initiative. Illustrates how meaning making and reframing enabled some group members to construct visions of a renewed…

Modesto (California) City Schools discovered common-ground thinking during a crisis over a safe-schools policy. Instead of shunning controversy, schools should face issues, invite all stakeholders, get training, formulate and approve policy, and train staff and the community to understand common-ground (religious neutrality) thinking. (MLH)

There is no formula for creating celebrations that truly inspire a sense of community on campus, but the authors describe the convocation program at Western Washington University and how it involves the whole community in creating a welcoming experience. They draw on the compelling campus traditions, give returning students an important role, and…

Explores how research can confirm that customer-driven educational-facilities planning actually works. Describes a matrix format for gauging value scores on a school renovation's importance to a community and on how the community believes the building is performing against that value. (GR)

Restorative justice promotes greater accountability, competency, and public safety through community care of juvenile offenders. The Prosocial Communities Solution builds an infrastructure around information sharing, coordinated supervision, and immersion in prosocial activities. Communities horizontally align parents with professional caregivers…

Presents key principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), discussing the rationale for its use; providing policy recommendations at the organizational, community, and national levels aimed at advancing the application of CBPR; and emphasizing the establishment of policies to enhance equity that would both increase the engagement of…