Representing a broad segment of people interested in rural America, this document presents 16 speeches. Speeches on rural development implementation at Federal, state, and regional levels include: "The Rural Development Concept" (calls for a national rural development policy which provides for a multicommunity, regional framework strengthened by…

The discussion paper consists principally of two checklists of preoperational research needs for development projects in developing nations. (Preoperational research is focused on the possibility or feasibility of introducing a given innovation, its implications, and necessary modification.) The checklists, the first on factors relevant for…

A study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of services offered by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory as a technical assistance center (TAC) to aid state departments of education and local school districts in implementing the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS). The data were also used to help establish priorities…

A fictional Rhode Island community is used to describe the Local Planning and Assessment Process (LPAP), including technical assistance, and to discuss some of the drawbacks involved in planning and implementing program evaluation and development. The hypothetical situation is based on real experiences of several communities which have used LPAP.…

The experience of three unnamed Rhode Island communities in using the Local Planning and Assessment Process (LPAP) are described. Community A had conducted a needs assessment survey and wished technical assistance to validate the perceived needs and to develop evaluation skills in a core group of their faculty. However, the process has temporarily…

Communications can play an important role in rural development. Especially promising are programs to reduce the cost of transportation and to extend services to dispersed rural populations, especially education, health, and entertainment services. There is a strong presumptive case that broadband communications can do a great deal to promote rural…

The Naskapi language is unique in northern Quebec because of the Naskapi people's late contact with Europeans, their geographic isolation, and the high proportion of Naskapi speakers in their territory. For the last two decades, a language development strategy has been emerging in the community as outside language specialists have been invited to…

In the spring of 2001, the University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Education included a web-based instructional component in all distance education classes. This component aims to mediate access and equity issues in providing postsecondary education to rural Alaska residents. The number of courses offered through distance education had been…

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) believes provision of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to prepare qualified technicians and skilled and semi-skilled workers should be an essential component of the development agenda of all countries. It is about to draft a plan of action for the…

In May 1995, Eastfield College, in Dallas, Texas, signed a formal affiliation with Service, Employment, and Redevelopment (SER)-Jobs for Progress, Inc., a Hispanic-oriented non-profit corporation dedicated to developing employment and training efforts. The agreement stipulates that SER will provide or manage the provision of training and technical…

This brief paper describes an innovative training project, the Augmentative, Assistive, and Facilitated Communication project, designed to enhance the capacity of school personnel to use alternative communication strategies with children having severe communication impairments. The project has provided training and technical assistance to school…

Action research in the Cobb County (Georgia) school district is described. This research is being conducted in the district under three main approaches: (1) co-researcher projects addressing central level issues; (2) district-wide projects; and (3) school-focused action research, including minigrants to teachers. The first three…

The Business Industry and Technical Assistance Center (BITAC) was established in 1986 at Hazard Community College, in Kentucky, to serve as an information and technical assistance center for small business. As the local area began to face layoffs in the coal mining industry, however, the center extended its services in four principal areas:…

Arranged into four parts, the paper discusses the importance of international and institutional cooperation and the appropriate use of technology in the search for new and renewable energy sources. The first part of the paper discusses the inevitable depletion of the world's oil supply, the increasing interdependency of nations, the implications…

Resources available to department chairs from the following sources are described: the department's discipline; the national higher education community; the local institution; and the chair's own skills, background, roles, and structural placement within the organization. The use of these resources to deal with common problems faced by chairs is…