Since 2012, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has supported educational enrichment in rural areas by awarding over $3.3 million in grants to six outstanding organizations operating in Iowa, Indiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In this report, the authors combine the experiences of these organizations with findings from the…

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation has provided over $3.3 million in grants to outstanding providers of educational enrichment in rural areas since 2012. In extensive interviews, rural education experts in our grantee organizations shared their practical knowledge of the best ways to identify academically talented students in rural areas, provide…

In some countries, the scale of the youth illiteracy problem calls for critical and targeted responses. It is important to help young people in developing countries gain basic literacy skills so that they can contribute to the development of productive, peaceful, and democratic societies. While national commitments and support are important, the…

This paper describes the Lower Price Hill Community School, located in a low-income neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio, suggesting that the school's history and operation offer practical steps for improving education for Appalachian people. Conditions faced by urban Appalachians, many of whom migrated to cities following World War II are described…

This document consists of a leader's guide that tells how to conduct a 1-day workshop and a workbook used by workshop participants to develop action plans to improve workplace literacy and the collaboration skills needed to implement those plans. It is intended that workshop participants should consist of 10-15 community members.) A memorandum in…

Georgia's Certified Literate Community Program is a state-supported, community-based effort that provides all levels of instruction--from basic skills to technical writing--to adults at all educational levels. The goal is to enable every capable adult to attain reading, speaking, writing, problem solving, and comprehension skills. (SK)

The series "Self-instructional Notes on Social Participation" is a six volume series intended as teaching aids for adult educators. The theoretical, methodological, informative and practical elements of this series will assist professionals in their work and help them achieve greater success. The specific purpose of each notebook is…

This module, which may be used as the basis for a workshop or as a special topic unit in adult basic education or English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) courses, discusses how and why to get involved in political and community life in the United States. Topics covered include the following: local political involvement, writing letters, reading the…

This user's guide for professionals using Project Lifelong Learning staff development modules is designed to accompany the documentary on lifelong learning in the community, one of three half-hour television documentary programs intended for broadcast and for general public discussion activities. It introduces the project, the purpose of which is…

This document offers an overview of the Houston READ Commission (HRC), a nonprofit urban literacy coalition created by the Mayor and City Council in the Greater Houston area. It describes how the coalition of community organizations first came together in 1988, in response to a survey's finding that there are over one million functionally…

The agents most successful in reaching and teaching those most in need of basic skills instruction are the community-based organizations (CBOs). They come into being in response to social and economic problems faced by their constituents--disadvantaged minorities, the poor, the unemployed, and the alienated. Because of their close ties to the…

In this booklet, the use of Academic Interest Centers (AIC) in Chicago public schools is described. An AIC is defined as an educational option program which: (1) concentrates a unique combination of resources for academic improvement in one location; (2) serves children of various racial/ethnic backgrounds in a way that advances their academic…

An evaluation was conducted of the second year of Project REAL (Relevant Experiences for Alternative Learning), which provides high school students in Newark, Delaware, with community-based career development experiences and relates these learning activities to the curriculum of life skills, basic skills, and career development. In the area of…

This catalogue of student competencies, gleaned from 10,000 competency statements developed by secondary school districts, is designed to allow flexibility at the local level. Districts are free to adopt or modify this set of graduation competencies by following a six-step process: organize, orient a task force, identify priority competency…

The Minneapolis Accountability Project represents an effort to allow the community to evaluate existing school programs which are locally funded. The project informs the community about school problems, establishes a channel for expression of community concerns, and provides findings and proposals for educational change. This report describes the…