Discussion of the need for an Australian national information policy focuses on the need to teach students information skills. Arguments for a policy are presented, including the higher life quality of an informed population and improved national productivity and competitiveness, and lobbying efforts to date are reviewed. (21 notes with…

This issue of ETS Policy Notes focuses on highlights from the ETS African American Education Seminar. The day-long event, which drew more than 100 education and public affairs professionals, assessed the challenges facing African Americans in all levels of education, including access to high-quality prekindergarten, elementary, secondary, and…

This brief focuses on the potential role that strategic communications can play in helping state (Maternal Child Health) MCH programs and their collaborating partners frame their message to enhance the public's understanding of the importance of early child development and the need for a comprehensive and integrated early childhood system. The…

A 1996 workshop held in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, explored the challenge of creating an entrepreneurial economy in predominantly rural states such as Kentucky with little or no history of widespread entrepreneurial activity. Traditional approaches to economic development in such states, such as spending on relocation incentives for out-of-state…

This annual report for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) describes the programs and services provided by this organization in 1993. Following an introduction by UNICEF's executive director, the report reviews regional developments in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, Latin…

The transformation of education and the formation of social capital in Texas has been brought about by local organizations of the Texas Industrial Areas Foundation, or the Texas IAF. The organizations have operated in innercity neighborhoods to develop mutually reinforcing matrices of school improvement and community uplift. By 1992 Texas IAF…

The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) at Mississippi State University fosters innovative approaches to sustainable rural development and builds collaborative networks among agencies, institutions, and communities. The center's key goals are to: 1) strengthen and support the capacity of Southern land-grant institutions and their partners to…

Over 250 rural leaders attended the conference "Beyond Agriculture: New Policies for Rural America," held in Kansas City (Missouri) in April 2000. The conference began with an assessment of where the rural economy and rural policy are headed in the new century. Speakers suggested that the rural economy is likely to remain a mix of…

The Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC) is one of four regional rural development centers in the nation. SRDC coordinates rural development research and extension education programs cooperatively with the 29 land-grant institutions in 13 Southern states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. This annual report outlines activities undertaken by…

Considers the nature of rurality as a social construct and implications for policymakers considering lifelong education in developed economies of the world. Discussion focuses on three key questions: (1) what is rurality?; (2) what effect has rurality on cultural identity; and (3) what are rural and urban young people's perceptions of formal…

Introduces a collection of articles that illustrate lessons learned from global issues in education and focus on four categories: finance and administration, the role of policy and research, human capital and social cohesion (outcomes of schooling), and multilateral development banks and religious organizations. (SM)

Argues that urban policy should entail a unifying mix of economic, physical, and social initiatives that emphasize job creation and retention and social equity. The author explores a proposal for urban policy involving neighborhood-based planning, regulation of capital flight, local development funding, human capital formation, physical…

Examines recent initiatives of state governments and boards in developing economic development policy with community colleges as active partners. Places the policy discussion within a human capital framework, considering the state role in building human capital, and the building of human and physical capital through technical training. (DMM)

The 1990 Rural Sociological Society's Task Force on Persistent Rural Poverty describes rural poverty, comparing it to urban poverty; rejects human-capital, economic-organization, and culture-of-poverty theories of rural poverty and proposes research on 10 other theories; and discusses rural policy and its inequitable emphasis on farmers. (KS)

The South's recent rapid growth has not erased its widespread poverty and low levels of human capital. The rural South remains the nation's low-income and high-poverty region, and low education levels may limit the rural South's prospects for development. Underlying social and economic conditions that depend on and reinforce a low-skill population…