This field study of a small midwestern town undergoing development suggests that external resources (such as state and federal aid) do not necessarily diminish local decision making if the community has shared values, conflict resolution mechanisms, local issues, and healthy social networks. (SK)

The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme provides funds to help Indigenous communities in rural and remote Australia provide employment, skills development, and various essential and desirable municipal services. However, there is room to improve the range and quality of employment and community development activities available.…

This report describes the New Song Academy, led by New Song Urban Ministries (NSUM), which serves preK-8 children in Baltimore, Maryland, and promotes quality education for urban students through partnerships with families and the community. It operates year-round in six 6-week sessions. Despite the often chaotic nature of children's lives outside…

This report documents results of Baltimore's Sandtown-Winchester Neighborhood Transformation (NT) Initiative, focusing on key decisions that helped shape the initiative. NT was one of the first attempts to systematically bring together diverse strands of thinking about comprehensive community change to overcome conditions that undermine…

This book provides a comprehensive model for creating student-friendly and learning-supportive campus environments, examining how the principles of effective person-environment interactions work through physical, aggregate, organizational, and socially-constructed environmental components. The chapters of Part 1, Types and Impacts of Campus…

Asset mapping is an effective tool for understanding the wealth of talent and resources that exists in each community--even those with small populations or suffering from poverty and economic distress. The long-term development of a community rests on its ability to uncover and build on the strengths and assets of its people, institutions, and…

The work of E. Boyer (1995) and his "Basic School" research were used as a model for building community on one southeastern Idaho junior high school. Boyer's research concludes that the most successful ingredient for a successful school is "connections," and that those connections are predicated on a school becoming a community…

This report describes s a study that examined how seven groups in Edmonton, Alberta, used a community development model called Community Capacity Building and Asset Mapping. The first three sections discuss the model's development and purpose and the methodology used to examine its application in community planning. Presented next are the results…

The Kuru Development Trust is a development support program that is owned and controlled by the communities in which the organization operates, the majority being San, or Bushmen, communities in the Kalahari region of Africa. Following a holistic approach to development, Kuru is involved in a wide range of activities, including income-generating…

Minnesota high school students and teachers are learning the technology of simulation and integrating it into business and industrial technology courses. Modeling and simulation is the science of using software to construct a system within an organization and then running simulations of proposed changes to assess results before funds are spent. In…

This compendium report presents papers on what mayors have done to revitalize their cities. These efforts have been concentrated on improving schools and educational outcomes, renewing strong neighborhoods, investing in infrastructure, improving public health facilities, and reducing crime. The reports include: "City of Akron: The Akron…

Colonias--unincorporated, low-income settlements endemic to the U.S. borderlands--have inadequate infrastructure and dismal living conditions, but also provide a creative solution to the housing dilemma faced by many border families. Colonias are most common in Texas and New Mexico, primarily as a result of weak rural planning laws, and are…

The Idaho Rural Partnership (IRP) was created within the Idaho Department of Labor to join diverse public and private resources in innovative collaborations to strengthen communities and improve life in rural Idaho. The IRP is an accessible organization that listens to local problems and collaborates to develop systemwide solutions. The board of…

Many states have already begun the task of creating a more "seamless" education system that stretches from kindergarten through the undergraduate years (K-16). Support for this integration of the education system is growing, although the obstacles are recognized as formidable. A conference was held to discuss ways of bring such a seamless system…

The future of rural schools is inextricably linked to the future of their surrounding communities, and service learning is a powerful tool for capitalizing on those links. Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that respond to community needs while furthering the academic goals of students. Service learning…