The project review as outlined in this article explores the questions: What is transformative research and what is transformation as far as the community stakeholders are concerned? To what extent has the transformative research achieved its intended outcomes? The Bokamoso project (founded by Lesego Serolong as facilitator and investor) is an…

Digital media play an increasingly dominant role in reinforcing and challenging power inequality in social and institutional relationships. This paper describes how a service-learning component engaged students in community-based interactions that not only deepened their understanding of course content but also increased their commitment to…

We studied seven programs that engage youth from 10 to 18 years old in wildfire risk reduction in their communities in the United States through in-depth interviews to examine the nature and role of community-school partnerships in resource-focused environmental education. While the programs use a variety of strategies, from Scout badge to summer…

Extension recognizes the importance of data in guiding programming decisions at the local level. However, allocating personnel resources and specializations at the state level is a more complex process. The West Virginia University Extension Service has adopted a data-driven process to determine the number, location, and specializations of county…

This evaluation examines the effectiveness of the Saltspring Women Opposed to Violence and Abuse (SWOVA) Community Development and Research Society's "Respectful Relationships" (R+R) program. R+R is a school-community partnership program that focuses on youth development of social competencies that underlie social justice. Youth in…

Community development partnerships for youths offer valuable resources for school improvement. Unfortunately, these resources may not be tapped because school leaders have not been prepared to understand these partnerships. The evaluative research reported partnership-related understanding, aiming to prepare leaders to contribute to, and benefit…

AEL's contract with the U.S. Department of Education includes work partnering with faith-based organizations in Kanawha County, West Virginia, to (1) build their capacity to better serve at-risk youth and (2) document what best helps such organizations to successfully impact youth and their families. One of the first faith-based organizations with…

The need of American youth to be responsible and contributing members of society has led to the rise of "youth participation" projects across the country. Various programs have been established to enable young people to participate in meaningful activities. (JN)

Currently, youth services are uncoordinated, youth workers are underpaid, and youth programs survive on hand-to-mouth funding. Although schools touch every child's life, they cannot singlehandedly repair this damaged youth ecosystem. Community development, a necessary partner in education reform efforts, will enmesh schools with other agencies in…

With the nation's recent emphasis on student test scores, The Children's Aid Society fears that schools are missing the opportunity to be the institutions that help turn out successful young people. School climate and connectedness are the key ingredients for creating healthy schools that produce successful students. These factors are worthy of…

This report presents findings from Phase 1 of an evaluation of the New York City Beacons initiative, a model of school-community-family partnerships initiated in 1991. Beacons are community centers located in public schools, offering a range of activities and services to participants of all ages, before and after school, in the evenings, and on…

The word "summer" brings to mind images of a relaxed, unstructured season--a time markedly different from other seasons of the year. In the United States, we have a particularly entrenched notion that summer is different--a notion reflected in popular assumptions about summer as a "break" and reinforced by carefree depictions…