Do homestays benefit host communities, perpetuate neocolonial relationships, or both? While the St. Lawrence Kenya-Semester Program (KSP) has centered homestays as an essential component of experiential learning and community engagement since 1972, this article flips the script and places homestay families at the center of knowledge production on…

Rural school districts face different challenges than urban and suburban districts. In fact, several Rural Systemic Initiatives (RSIs) have been established around the country to isolate and address rural school district issues (Harmon & Smith, 2012). In order to improve the effectiveness of transition services in rural schools, feedback from…

Budgetary shortfalls and excessive layoffs have left public schools with a deficiency of professional innovation as well as modern theory and practice. It is imperative that educators identify the exemplary school systems that are engaging students and adults in 21st century education, and broadcast those patterns of success to schools in need of…

Higher education institutions are charged with creating one million more STEM professionals over the next decade, a 34% increase in undergraduate STEM degrees annually (PCAST 2012). Examining why college STEM courses manifest high attrition rates, interdependencies emerge that begin in early childhood education. Those of us in higher education…

The low educational achievement of our poorest youth is fundamentally a political problem. Against a background of interconnected gaps in educational achievement, health and wealth, and political participation, this paper calls for a liberatory educational praxis that disrupts these reinforcing inequalities. This is a critical literacy grounded in…

In light of globalising trends toward urbanisation and resettlement, we explore how agricultural knowledges may be adapted and applied among relocated people. Although indigenous and related forms of practice-based knowledge may be temporarily lost as people adopt commercial agricultural practices and switch to non-agricultural livelihoods, they…

The military-civilian disconnect has been a source of increasing concern over the last few decades. National security leaders--including the commander in chief, President Barack Obama--have warned that many Americans are unaware of the military's sacrifices and its growing sense of isolation from wider society. In remarks at Duke University in…

School-community interactions facilitate connections between schools and their local surroundings; however, these relationships are subject not only to local political, economic, and social influences but also to broader political and institutional forces. Educational administrators' decisions about programming and partnering can be considered in…

A rural southwestern New York hospital that instituted a rural residency track (RTT) in concert with a physician-centered strategy increased its admissions, physicians, employment, and profits. Developing an RTT requires dedicated CEO leadership, a strong on-site chief of service, family physicians who perform cesarean sections, and midlevel…

Early MIDNY Project efforts (1966) included work with County Extension staff in three Central New York counties (including Madison) to encourage establishment of county planning organizations to cope with local change problems and enable counties to obtain maximum benefit from regional planning efforts. This was done in Madison County through an…

This study identifies the characteristics of both successful small businesses and their entrepreneurial owners in a 14-county area of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA). Of the 100 survey respondents representing successful small businesses, 50% had been in business for less than 14 years; 38% were in manufacturing; 48% employed more…

Reports a case study that examined the effects of parent policymaking within Head Start, focusing on low-income mothers' involvement, opinions, and impact. Interviews and observations indicated that county Head Start policymakers and administrators had difficulty bringing low-income families into the dialog about policies, programs, and…

Case study describes a depressed rural New York community that became a migration destination for urban poor people, causing dramatic increases in poverty rate, welfare rolls, and service needs. In-migrants were attracted by low-income housing and, because of their limited job skills, were not deterred by lack of jobs. Discusses community impacts…

The report presents case studies of 7 community action projects which were undertaken by New York communities with populations under 10,000 and which show how local leaders can improve the quality of life in their communities. The report describes the background, initiation, expansion, implementation, consequences, and highlights of the projects,…

This book presents 22 personal narratives in which library directors, program administrators, teachers, tutors, librarians, and adult learners explain firsthand how literacy programs at libraries across the United States have changed people's lives. The following narratives are included: "Gloria's Story: 'She Wanted Me to Be Somebody'";…