Guided by the social network perspective, this study examined the structural properties of the state reading policy domain using network visualization tools: sociograms and multidimensional scaling scattergrams. The authors' graphic exploration of eight state reading policy networks produced rich insights about the density and the overall…

In this essay, the author suggests that performance studies--a large and varied body of work that takes the fluidity of self and the relationship between word and action as its central concepts--offers theories and methodologies for writing teachers to use to help students construct discoursal identities. Although the performative screen offers…

Graduate counseling programs are proficient in training direct service providers but less able to teach the business of sustaining a community agency's services. Modern philanthropy emphasizes social advocacy by investing in change that benefits the local community and respects the diverse cultural experiences of potential clients and…

This book provides a comprehensive guide to graduate and undergraduate programs focusing on social change that are recommended by Food First, a non-profit research and education center with a mission of empowering citizens to address the root causes of hunger, poverty, and environmental decline. Listings provide the name and address of the…

Since the 1920s, the focus of adult education has shifted from social change to professionalization to an emphasis on literacy and lifelong learning in a changing workplace. The adult education literature reflects ongoing debate over whether adult education should focus primarily on individuals or society and whether it should serve as a means of…

This handbook explores Europe's nonprofit nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that have been working for change in South Africa and now are engaged, or planning to engage in the economic, social, and human resource development of a democratic South Africa. The purposes of the document are to: (1) illuminate for both donor agencies and groups…

This paper describes the Disability Rights and Independent Living movements, and advocates for increased awareness and leadership. The Independent Living Movement started at the University of California in the 1960s when a group of severely disabled students organized a place where they could live independently. Despite their education and…

This feature issue newsletter looks at issues the self-advocacy movement is raising and the contributions it is making to the lives of people with developmental disabilities. Articles by self-advocates and advisors to self-advocacy organizations talk about their self-advocacy experiences, barriers to self-advocacy, and ways to support it. Primary…

The focus of this paper is the U.S. section of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (US WILPF) and its efforts to mobilize an activist and durable women's peace reform organization in the 1930s. Members wished US WILPF to serve as an avenue for expanding women's political power and for reaching the goals of nonviolent change and…

Content trends were analyzed in more than 3,000 articles in two selected special interest magazines ("Audubon" and "Environment") and two general audience magazines ("Time" and "Saturday Review") for the period 1959-1979. Through this analysis, the study examined the role of the two media types as well as…

The context of the emergence of action research is explored historically and comparatively. The primary focus is a description of the development of action research in the middle part of this century in the United States. Certain assumptions, intentions, and practices of educational action research as they emerged in the early stages of…

A survey of the methods of three feminist organizations offers general explanations for the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Limited to the emergence phase (1966-70) of the organizations, the survey examines the National Organization of Women (NOW), the Feminists, and the Women's Equity Action League (WEAL) in terms of their definition…

In spite of apparent successes, it remains questionable whether communications reform groups have had significant impact on public policy toward broadcasting and its role in American society. Historically, the progressive movement and the rise of government regulatory apparatus underlie the communications reform movement. But the effectiveness of…

Social action should be an integral part of everyday casework practice, not merely an adjunct to it. The technique of environmental modification may be an important avenue for bringing this about. It can help bridge the gap between case advocacy and large-scale social action for generating institutional change. (Author)