The participatory rural appraisal (PRA) technique was used with 1,550 women and 420 men in more than 100 villages in Uganda, El Salvador, and Bangladesh over a 2-year period to develop and pilot test an approach to literacy education called REFLECT (Regenerated Freirean Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques). The REFLECT approach, which…

This document summarizes and presents materials produced during a qualitative international study of the role of transformative learning in achieving sustainable societies and global responsibility that included the following activities: case studies of experiences with transformative learning in seven countries; international survey and workshop;…

The Decker Family Development Center in Barberton (Ohio) is a holistic "one-stop shop" that provides services to families who are at multiple risk. During its 5 years of operation, this center has developed a model that goes beyond cooperation into co-construction to empower stakeholders. This paper describes the center and its successes…

The Talent Development approach to helping greater numbers of students succeed in middle school is based on a belief that all students can learn challenging material if the right types of support are given. This report presents the essential components of the Talent Development framework and describes their initial implementation in Evans Junior…

This guide, which was developed to assist instructors of several Ohio programs for special adult audiences (including programs for displaced homemakers, dislocated workers, single parents who are school dropouts, and adults needing help coordinating work and family roles), contains a series of curriculum modules devoted to selected aspects of…

This Texas report focuses on the partnerships the Texas Council is creating with people, businesses, and organizations in the community to work toward greater access and accommodations for people with disabilities throughout local communities. Individual partnerships are described that represent cooperation with health and human services agencies,…

This kit of materials, designed for trainers of adult literacy teachers, attempts to capture the experience of five adult literacy workers from Mozambique on a study tour of Nicaragua and Brazil, and to introduce the user to the concept, methodology, and tools of "popular literacy." The kit both reports an experience and offers a set of…

This handbook, designed for British adult educators, contains examples of innovative approaches to the continuing education of adults with learning difficulties. It contains 10 sections: (1) using this handbook; (2) self-advocacy and citizen advocacy; (3) learning choices; (4) ways and means of learning; (5) learning for a purpose; (6)…

A comprehensive national plan is needed to reverse the declining enrollment and employment of blacks in higher education. Over the last decade, government policies such as cuts in financial aid and the erosion of Head Start, child care, and other programs that benefit the poor have contributed to the negatives trends in minority enrollment. In…

Decentralized decision-making is an important characteristic of effective schools. Effective decentralization requires that teachers, parents, students, and the community be involved, despite the various problems they face. The creation of school improvement councils is one step towards implementing the massive structural change needed to improve…

This document is comprised of the 1999 issues (issues 2 and 3 are combined) of a newsletter of the Harvard Family Research Project, designed to share new ideas and experiences in evaluating systems reform and comprehensive child and family services. The first issue focuses on the evaluation of youth programs and includes the following articles:…

A study examined experiential education programs in terms of how they developed participants' personal agency, sense of belonging, and levels of competence. Personal agency empowers students to become change agents in their lives and communities; sense of belonging enables participants to see themselves as members of a community with rights and…

Education is at the heart of the struggle of Canada's Aboriginal peoples to regain control over their lives as communities and nations. Based on hearings and research generated by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP), this collection of articles documents recent progress in transforming Aboriginal education to support…

This working paper is intended to enrich an initial description of alternative businesses and A-Way Express Couriers, in particular. (A-Way, a 12-year-old community organization, is a psychiatric survivor-run alternative business.) The paper begins with a brief commentary on the psychiatric survivor movement and research on it. The paper traces…

Health, education, and human service agencies are beginning to think strategically and systematically about how to provide family members with opportunities for meaningful involvement as partners. Noting that collaboration between families and professionals in program and policy settings requires all parties to acquire new skills, this guide for…