This study examined community leadership education programs employed in rural communities and organizations of several states to empower both local leaders and residents. In particular, the study investigated the relationships between community leadership education program design and structure (contact hours and content) and six outcome indices of…

This paper describes a program, Leadership Enhancement for the Active Retired (LEAR), designed to tap talented and active retired people in rural areas for leadership roles. In cooperation with a community college, two classes of older adults were recruited and trained. Participants were classified as to their leadership activity both prior to…

In the Community in the Classroom project, 10 Appalachian community-based groups are exploring ways in which literacy education can contribute to community development. This project is challenging assumptions about the role of education, looking beyond the traditional economic context of adult education, and shifting the focus of literacy from…

Vocational and technical training programs for less developed countries offer little in the way of training the intermediate cadres, technicians, and village level workers necessary for modernizing the primary sector on which developing economies depend. Training is vital because it secures cost reduction and maximum use of organization, enables…

Through the Appalachian Community Learning Project, community teams tackle a range of economic and community-development problems. After participating in leadership forums, teams set modest six-month goals and later report on results and lessons learned. By "chipping away" at local problems, teams have fostered individuals'…

In the 1940s, the Montana Study focused on engaging the University of Montana in outreach efforts in small towns, developing mechanisms to stabilize the family and small communities and improve the quality of small-town life. Its most popular activity was the creation of over a dozen community study groups aimed at community cultural renewal. (SV)

Two-hundred and seventy-five service providers in a rural location with a high concentration of older people (age 60+) were queried about types of needs, obstacles to learning, and program development. While instrumental needs are generally recognized, need perception is based on occupational orientation, though age and number of contact hours are…

This book contains 10 case studies of rural community development in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Catalonia, as seen from the perspective of community-work practitioners. Development projects encompassed such activities as promotion of tourism, establishment of community centers, vocational training for school dropouts, adult community…

The ACRE (Action with Communities in Rural England) Rural Adult Education Project was conceived in the spirit of empowering local people to help themselves. This book, a distillation of the experience of the project, was written with the primary object of being of practical use to those who are already involved, or would like to become involved,…

MDC, Inc. is a private nonprofit whose mission is to expand opportunities, reduce poverty, and build inclusive communities in the South. The Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) is a national project that supports community colleges in distressed rural areas in moving their people and communities toward prosperity. MDC and the Ford Foundation…

This theme issue of a newsletter for adult literacy practitioners focuses on community development. Nine articles on this topic include the following: "Adult Literacy and Community Development" (Hal Beder); "Why Community Development?" (Kirk Baker); "Freire's Revolution" (Ruth Pelz); "Impacting Communities…

Nearly half of Quebec's municipalities have fewer than 800 inhabitants and are struggling with conditions of economic decline, outmigration of youth, and political marginalization. In 1991, a regional coalition called Coalition Urgence Rurale was formed in the Lower Saint Lawrence area to support initiatives that promote community empowerment,…

The Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning (REAL) program is a network of teachers from 150 high schools, colleges, and universities in 23 states and 2 foreign countries. The program uses experiential learning to link rural schools with rural development by drawing on schools' resources to revitalize the community, while using the…

This chapter reports on the activities of the Rural Continuing Education Centre (CREPA), a nongovernmental organization run by volunteers from small agricultural villages in the Las Villas area of Salamanca, Spain. The organization was founded in 1983 with the goal of improving living conditions and community life for villagers through social…

At the first National Invitational Meeting on Rural Postsecondary Education (also known as the Kansas City Initiative), 28 rural specialists in lifelong learning produced an 8-item Bill of Rights and an 11-item rural postsecondary action agenda. Participants discussed organizational deficiencies in rural adult education, the sense of isolation all…