Despite some cuts to the nation's oldest Federal College Access Programs, known as the TRIO programs (e.g., Upward Bound), new education policies have emphasized college and career readiness. In 2010, Congress approved the College Access Challenge Grant Program, which aims to increase the number of low-income students who are ready for college.…

Experiential learning has become an important part of the higher education curriculum in the United States. Due to the integration of a "Community Engagement" category in the Classification of Institutions of Higher Education in the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2006, many colleges and universities have recently…

Building relationships and community collaborations--especially on an institutional level--is a slow and long-term process. These types of innovative, experimental, and long-term collaborations with community organizations and groups often lead art institutions to reflect on the value and place of their institutional structures when engaging in…

Drawing on Cultural Historical Activity Theory, language socialization, and the notion of "third space," this article examines how bilingual, Latina/o students (Latina/o English learners) use sophisticated linguistic, cultural, and mathematical tools to solve community-based problems. This article examines the inherent tensions in using…

Background: The Healthy Bodies, Healthy Souls (HBHS) program aims to reduce diabetes risk among urban African Americans by creating healthy food and physical activity environments within churches. Participant engagement supports the development of applicable intervention strategies by identifying priority concerns, resources, and opportunities.…

This quasi-experimental, static-group comparison study of two non-equivalent groups examined how Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) community participation of at-work, cooperative education students affected student perceived performance, perceived learning, and measured learning with student grade point average (GPA) and work term as covariates. The…

Communities are at the heart of the government's vision for the Big Society. And it's the author's strongly held view that skills should be at the heart of each and every one of those communities. If one grows the skills of an individual then the community will flourish. There is a job to be done in building skills to build communities--skilled…

Onesimo Giron had always been admired in his community for his generosity, compassion, happy disposition, and willingness to help others. He was deaf from birth and had faced a variety of challenges throughout his life. Even so, he had forged a place for himself as a dedicated husband, father, a wonderful gardener and a valued family and community…

This issue of "Issues in Prevention" focuses on campus and community coalitions. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Campus and Community Coalitions: Implementing Environmental Prevention Strategies (John D. Clapp); (2) Campus Brief: University of Rhode Island; (3) International Town & Gown Association; (4) Q&A With…

A strong partnership between a school and the surrounding community leads to school success. Schools can be more successful with community involvement and engagement than if functioning in isolation. Community engagement leads to greater academic achievement of students. Utilizing qualitative case study methods, this study focused on the…

This paper examines perceptions of quality of life in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from the perspective of residents and key community stakeholders. A series of eight focus groups were conducted. Six sessions were held with residents of neighbourhood "hubs", areas characterized by high levels of poverty. The following themes were…

This article will explore lifelong learning and community participation for older women. In doing so, it will draw on empirical work undertaken with the National Federation of Women's Institutes in England and Wales in the UK; and the Sydney Older Women's Network in Australia. The article will briefly outline something of the policies and…

Non-formal learning for urban youth has a long history in the United States; it remains a source of innovation. This essay draws on literature about organizations that use community ties to encourage cognitive development and identity formation. It then describes how one youth organization in Camden, New Jersey uses presentations to the community…

An outdoor classroom is the ideal vehicle for community involvement: Parents, native plant societies, 4-H, garden clubs, and master naturalists are all resources waiting to be tapped, as are local businesses offering support. If you enlist your community in the development and maintenance of your outdoor classroom, the entire community will…

This study reports on an evaluation of the "Reading Partners" program, which uses community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring to struggling readers in underresourced elementary schools. Established in 1999 in East Menlo Park, California, the mission of "Reading Partners" is to help children become lifelong readers by…