This book tells the story of an innovative approach to educational change in urban schools. Using a case study approach, the book describes how working class parents, public school teachers, clergy, social workers, business partners, and other engaged citizens have worked to improve education in inner-city schools. Their combined efforts are…

Designed for individuals and groups seeking to organize consumer activities, this guide focuses on how to build consumer competence, how to organize others, where to get training, and how to influence policy makers. Chapter I discusses how to educate oneself for consumerism by using product-rating periodicals, libraries, public consumer agencies,…

Examines the information needs of social change organizations using the peace and disarmament movement in Toronto as a case study. The process of information transfer, sources and places to obtain information, information distribution, and how libraries can better meet information needs of community organizations are discussed. Eight references…

This study examined how community organizations can use research to identify community education interests and to influence school systems to serve those interests. A case study of the Southeast Education Task Force in Baltimore, Maryland, analyzed the organization's efforts to develop a school facility plan and to persuade the school system to…

Examines the principles of social-learning theory and their application to community practice. Two diverse case examples to illustrate behavioral modeling in social action and the use of behavioral goals as criteria for evaluating outcomes of community intervention are presented. Other possible applications of social learning are also suggested.…

To illustrate what happens when a partisan political organization becomes involved in nonpartisan educational politics, this case focuses on the intervention of an urban unit of the California Democratic Council in a referendum for the establishment of a community college and the election of its board members. (Author/SJL)

Discusses the case study of the educational projects of two church-based community programs in Harrisburg (Pennsylvania), examining the understanding five women workers in these projects have about community and analyzing the relationships of these programs with the public schools. Of particular interest are the churches' after-school tutoring and…

Managers and decision-makers are under increasing pressure to engage community members along with experts in considering and resolving environmental degradation. This is especially the case with respect to decisions concerning water quality and quantity in Australia. The commitment of citizens and government to sustainable catchment management and…

This book assesses the nature, advantages, and limitations of the nondirective or community development approach to social betterment. Two advantages are claimed for this approach: people are more likely to act on what they have freely decided to do than on what others have tried to persuade them to do; through participation in the process of…

Family child care is the fastest growing segment of the child care industry and the type most often used by low-income families. It is largely unregulated, with poor children most likely to be in low-quality family child care homes. Family child care is underfunded, disorganized, and not structured to meet increased demands for service delivery.…

This book describes self-education within community organizations in Cape Town (South Africa) where a primary concern was the promotion of democratic participation. Part I describes the participatory research approach. Part II focuses on the historical contexts in which voluntary associations have developed and the specific theory and practice…

This collection of essays focuses on group social and political action as it relates to libraries and their environments. The introduction discusses the group-concept approach to studying library and information science. The essays are case studies of interest group politics, including: (1) the imprisonment of a librarian who refused to give…

Examines the KASHA project in Botswana to illustrate the characteristics of sustainable development as manifested in localized contexts and situations. Suggests the need to document, share, describe, and discuss successful programs like KASHA. (MDH)

This case study examines the roles that a professor, graduate student, consultant, and community education specialist at a public university in California have played in a partnership with an elementary school and a community-based organization in a nearby rural town. The case reveals that individuals' roles and approaches to public engagement…

This report is based on a case study which examined the efforts of community organizations in Columbus, Ohio to strengthen citizen participation (through the use of networking strategies) in the implementation phase of school desegregation. The report describes interorganizational networks as a function of exchange relations. Specialization,…