For individuals or groups interested in developing a comprehensive community plan to address the problems of teenage pregnancy and parenthood, this paper provides a process built around a community diagnostic conference, for mobilizing local decision makers. The process is divided into these six phases, which are discussed separately: (1)…

The steps involved in conducting a valid needs assessment are described and some problems to be avoided are discussed. Needs assessment begins with a set of educational goals. It is important that community opinion be obtained regarding the goals to ensure that they represent the interests of all involved in the educational process. Once the goals…

This handbook endeavors to provide information and advice to noncommercial broadcasting stations on how to perform ascertainment studies in conformance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations. Additional suggestions are made to enable stations to obtain in-depth information about community needs, wants, and interests. The…

This manual provides a step-by-step methodology for promoting community participation in improving learning in local schools. The Civic Engagement for Education Reform in Central America (CERCA) School Report Card (SRC) approach empowers local school communities to gather information on the quality and conditions of teaching and learning in their…

This document discusses the unique features and philosophy of the community college, and ways of maximizing community and college interpenetration. The central section of the report deals with the role of needs assessment in community education. The concept of needs assessment espoused herein stresses continuation and community participation as…

Developed by a regional health consortium, this plan defines the purpose of planning for consumer health education; explores the implications of recent legislation and historical precedents on consumer health education and consumer participation in the health planning process; documents current activities; develops priorities for future efforts;…

Abuse of alcohol and other drugs causes a variety of problems in a community. Accordingly, this is a manual for use by groups of citizens working to build a broadly based community alcohol and drug abuse prevention program. It includes both a systematic framework which a coalition can apply to its community, and a detailed case study of one…

The concept of needs and educational assessment is a blending of community participation and evaluation. There are four primary steps in this concept: goal definition, program assessment, needs identification, and decision making. This document offers a guideline model aimed at a simple, economical method of needs and educational assessment. It…

This Personalized Activity Kit describes various ways to gather school/community concerns--questionnaires, student speak-outs, community concerns conferences, and interviews. A variety of methods should be used in gathering concerns. Concerns gathering usually begins with an identification of current district goals. From the list of goals, a…