Ventures in Community Improvement (VICI) is a program that provides intensive training in construction skills to disadvantaged youth and at the same time allows them to produce tangible improvements in housing and public facilities in their own low-income communities. The model was tested twice previously, once in an eight-state demonstration that…

The close-knit, personal nature of small rural communities results in school and community operating as a single integrated social structure. Useful rural school improvement strategies must, therefore, address needs that are recognized by both the local school and the community and must operate in a style congruent with the local setting. Although…

One hundred years of rural development in India is surveyed, tracing the impact of colonial administration up to and including the decades of independence--an administration built on elitism, centralism, and paternalism. Four major rural problems of famine, abuses of land tenure, peasant indebtedness, and rural disaffection and how political…

The integration role of community development agents and the social system in which they work was examined. Their personal capability to act as an integrating agent was inferred from the nature of the specialized training prescribed in the community development master degree program and their prior occupational experience. Operational…

The purpose of this project was to (1) engage in a statewide survey of early intervention programs concerned with the school-age child and his or her family, and (2) to examine a "family impact" model focused on two systems: the family and the school. A particular focus of the survey was on programs whose methods of impacting, (i.e.…

This paper assesses the extent to which Houston's black community has benefited from the economic boom that the area is experiencing. The major issues addressed, using Houston as a case study, include (1) residential housing patterns, (2) black unemployment, (3) black-white income differentials, (4) black business and economic development, (5)…

The expansion of community development credit unions through a grant from the Office of Economic Opportunity is proposed and elaborated on by a current examination of the program. Described as consumer-owned, neighborhood-based financial institutions, more than 250 of these community credit unions are presently serving low-income communities…

The report on developing community services identifies effective alternative administrative structures and funding patterns which have enabled or could enable Title I efforts in the State of California to be expanded, continued, or adopted when Title I funding to institutions is diminished or terminated. The first of the report's six chapters is…

A report on the Education Satellite Communication Demonstration (ESCD) describes activities of the evaluators during the first quarter of 1975, including staff trips and site visits and activities of various staff members. A calendar of future events in satellites, telecommunications, and education is included, with revision on dates and new…

The use of electronic technologies for the delivery of instruction has grown at an exponential rate over the last five years. Institutions of higher education, corporations, and K-12 environments continue to seek ways to use online tools to deliver instruction. While the increased interest and need is an exciting development, several challenges…

Available evidence suggests that Islamic (or Quranic) schools, as the primary contemporary example of indigenous schooling, have made major changes in various countries where they remain active. These include changes in the nature of instruction, style of teaching, and teacher corps. In general, these changes have been made in response to social…

A case study of a rural community in Western Australia examined factors responsible for the progress made in breaking down barriers between youth and adults and building community cohesiveness. Community documents and interviews with school personnel, students, and community members revealed that the high school worked with the community to build…

Describes the evolution during 1992-97 of the Urban Cyberspace Initiative (UCSI), a conceptual model for placing technology-rich environments in urban centers that will support educational, economic, and community development. Discusses characteristics of technology projects, planning, education, collaboration, and legislative issues related to…

This report, in support of the project "Enhanced Learning through Electronic Communities," investigated successful practices of electronic communities. A literature review was conducted and a survey was sent to 15 system operators of networks that had a community-based focus with ancillary educational components and networks that focused primarily…

Data for a study of learning within farmers' cooperatives were collected by interviewing members of 25 such cooperatives in Imo State of Nigeria. Information was also gathered from a literature review and interviews with Nigerian government officials who worked closely with cooperatives. Three types of cooperative associations were identified:…