Sara McAlister, in her article "Why Community Engagement Matters in School Turnaround," in this issue (p35-42) of "Voices in Urban Education," lays out the strong research base showing that family and community participation is a crucial resource not only for individual student achievement, but also for catalyzing and…

This article presents a review of "Investing in Kids: Early Childhood Programs and Local Economic Development" by Timothy J. Bartik. Timothy Bartik's timely book contributes to an important conversation about the role of government in promoting investments in children in the years before traditional public schooling typically begins. Until…

It's almost a year since the revolution--the "Learning Revolution," that is. This was the Government's long-term vision for the development of "informal adult learning", as laid out in the White Paper of March 2009. The vision was expansive, embracing informal learning in the workplace, promoting a "new" culture of…

Americans depend largely on their community colleges to advance a form of democratic meritocracy in which all people--from dual-enrolled high-school and home-schooled students to traditional 18-year-old students to forty-something career changers, to retirees and octogenarians--have the opportunity to learn, grow, and excel. Yet despite the vital…

In this article, the author discusses the problems facing Ontario's community colleges' faculty as educators whose "craft" is to teach. The author contends that the problems educators face haven't really been the focus of the three constituencies that have dominated the conversations about the colleges: (1) college management; (2) the…

The ineffectiveness of community boards as avenues for meaningful citizen participation in providing public human services may be traced to problems in service institutions, in communities, and in the boards themselves. In service institutions, community participation in the provision of services is discouraged by: (1) professionals' condescending…

Existing definitions of the relationship between community participation and community development are flawed because they concentrate on the failings of community development without analyzing why successful programs succeed. Community development is actually a form of community participation, and its success is determined by the role of the…

The advent of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) has not been favorable to community-based organizations (CBOs) serving unemployed young people. The overall decline in the amount of money available for employment training is one reason for the reduction in services, but it is not the sole reason. The transition to the new act itself is also…

A pervasive anti-statism often blinds us to the democratic victories in the past and thus to possibilities in our future. This article argues that big government can democratize society and uses historical investigation to make the point. The study of history emancipates us from the tyranny of the present. Progressive social change has come about…

Recommendations resulting from a 1977 conference, "Health Policy, Health Planning and Financing the Future of Health Care for Blacks in America," are presented. The recommendations concern changes in the health care system, community involvement, government regulation, the formation of Black interest groups and lobbies, and support for national…

The advent of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) has changed the way community-based organizations (CBOs) can serve unemployed youth, according to the findings of the National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) survey of CBOs; analysis of reports, surveys, and studies of the JTPA; and conversations with NYEC members and others concerned with…

This paper identifies three different historical perspectives about citizens with developmental disabilities and their relationships to their fellow citizens and to state and federal governments. These perspectives are compared and contrasted as a basis for thinking about the future. A chart illustrates the perspectives of a distant past, a more…

Theoretical rationale and rural examples illustrate that local government, directly or through participatory community-based intermediaries, can promote development of community social capital. Important program features are participant autonomy, linkage, and returns on investment. Examples with varying social capital impacts include…

Greater communication is encouraged between leaders of the higher education community and leaders of other social institutions to persuade and reassure them of the role of higher education. (JMF)

Reviews developments pertinent to services for Australian children of preschool age. Emphasis is placed on the influence of school personnel, in league with the community, in the development of services for preschool-aged children. Focus is directed toward establishing standards to minimize developmental risks in children. (Author/DB)