"Grow Your Own Teachers" describes the evolution of a local school reform movement in Chicago that now serves as a model for change in schools and teacher preparation programs across the country. Grounded in the grassroots organizing tradition, the Grow Your Own (GYO) teacher initiative involves collaboration between community-based…

In an action research project, local citizens and community groups (often in collaboration with school professionals) investigate community-defined issues. Action research is geared to help people think clearly about an issue and find the resources they need to face it. In such a project, citizens develop skills in organizing, finding resources,…

Although increasing numbers of organizations are speaking out on behalf of children, politicians need to hear first-hand from families about their concerns for their children. This book provides parents and others with skills necessary to organize effectively and speak out on issues that affect children at home, at school, and in the broader…

This book presents a step-by-step approach to organizing or strengthening volunteer groups to conserve and manage natural resources. The approach is applicable to both small focused groups and large nonprofit corporations. Three case studies point out the common characteristics of successful conservation organizations, including clear goals, a…

Sixteen essays document the extent and variety of community resistance and struggle in Appalachia since 1960, and the origins and factors contributing to success or failure of particular efforts. They also relate the study of Appalachian dissent to issues informing scholarly discussions of dissent nationally. Of particular educational relevance…

Almost unnoticed, growing numbers of working poor people are entering politics at the community level in dozens of major cities in Texas and across the United States. These people are unusual because they view politics as a long-term process to build relationships, new institutions, and humane communities. This book tells the story of a new kind…

A sociological field study of the development of a Puerto Rican community organization in an American city (Maplewood, New Jersey), this book describes what happens when an ethnic minority attempts to attain a voice in the affairs of an affluent city. Chapter 1 discusses the study's purpose. Chapters 2 to 11 narrate, from the members' viewpoint…

This book explores relationships among democracy, social capital, and community-based mediating structures, focusing on Appalachia because of the obvious failures of market capitalism there. It suggests that mediating structures protect communities from the savage side of market capitalism and promote the democratic prospect by increasing and…

This book examines the efforts of Valley Interfaith--a community-based organization in the south Texas borderlands--to improve the living conditions of low-income residents and immigrants and the public schools their children attend. Valley Interfaith is unusual in that it crosses the boundary separating the worlds of community organizing and…

Women's American ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training) is an autonomous affiliate of a worldwide Jewish volunteer organization. It is dedicated to fighting poverty by providing Jewish youth and adults with vocational skills so that they may become productive members of society. In the past, WAO (Women's American ORT) has made…

The contents of this book are organized into seven chapters. Chapter 1 discusses methods for organizing schools and communities. It deals with three alternative models for the schools: administrative decentralization, community participation, and community control. It also examines three alternative models for the community: social planning,…

This book explores how community functions in "Bremer," a small rural town in eastern Washington. Human interactions in a variety of contexts are analyzed within a framework that posits three distinct eras of social and economic organization: community-control, mass-society, and information eras. Contexts examined are farming (the…

In his autobiography, Mark Monroe relates his life experiences as a Lakota Sioux Indian in White America. The book begins with Monroe reminiscing about his happy childhood on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. In 1941 his family moved to Alliance, Nebraska, and his father Dakota. In 1941 his family moved to Alliance, Nebraska, and his father…