State efforts to boost the economy--economic development--first came to Pennsylvania in the 1950s with the establishment of the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) low interest loan program used to recruit manufacturers to Pennsylvania, including devastated coal regions. Since that time, economic development in Pennsylvania and…

This book highlights the role of citizens in solving public problems. Part 1 presents the insights of several successful Americans to show why the rethinking of self-interest, power, and public life is the key to bringing new meaning into the lives of Americans. Part 2 describes changes occurring across the United States, which are conceptualized…

The viability of rural communities is threatened by social change, particularly changes in values that have traditionally sustained small towns. For community leaders to successfully manage change and community development, they must communicate effectively, encourage community involvement, and efficiently manage available resources. Provides…

This paper addresses the nature of educational reform and recommends strategies to better reflect the needs of rural schools and their communities. The furor over education reform is largely produced by those who stand to gain from it, including politicians who promote their own agendas and consultants, professors, and experts who make a good…

In New York State, Cooperative Extension's principal goal in community resource development is, through education, to increase the effectiveness in making and implementing public decisions concerning improvements in the quality and level of living of all people. Education and adaptive research are the two basic roles Extension will use to achieve…

This paper develops a conceptual framework as a guide for research analysis and the designing of experimental interventions aimed at the improvement of the socialization process of the community. Socialization agents are the parents, older and like-age peers, formal education agencies, churches, leisure time child and youth serving agencies, legal…

Designed for inclusion in an eighth grade course on U.S. history or civics, this unit introduces local students to the history of Alexandria (Virginia) through a study of its buildings and urban growth. By examining factors which have changed the community (technology, transportation, economic influences) as well as the relationship between…