The purpose of the West Virginia Special Needs Project was to learn more about how to work effectively with low-income, rural, nonfarm groups. Three test communities without previous experience with Extension activities were selected. These test communities were surveyed to provide information about the communities and their residents that could…

This volume contains the narratives of 17 Puerto Rican young adults, describing the major events in their life histories to the editor. They were interviewed in their homes and schools, at work, and in the streets. Among the narratives are the accounts of Fernanda, who was told she was too stupid to bother studying, and who now has a master's…

Communications is critical to community development, especially rural communities that are poor, immobile and at a distance from a major metropolitan area. The isolation of these communities comes out of a need for cohesiveness within a system that functions for them. There is some mutual support between their economic, political, and social…

Chilean "asentados" and Mexican "ejidatarios" as observed between 1965-73 and 1972-76, respectively, constitute the basis for an analysis of the interaction between peasants and agents of social change in the rural development process. Encounters between peasants and functionaries can be conceived as ceremonies incorporating…

Four kinds of U.S. anti-poverty programs were analyzed in terms of their impact upon the rural poor. Examination of 13 rural Community Development Corporations (CDC) in terms of prior and present poverty of non-manager employees indicated the effect of these programs was one of merely changing the source of income rather than the stratification…

In an effort to construct a quantitative aspiration measure for adults, a hypothetical situation with job related conditions was presented to a stratified sample of 21 counties in 5 southern states randomly selected from a 7-state regional sample of low-income county household heads and homemakers in 1960. Resulting data were tested for…

The concept of full employment must relate government policy to the following: (1) improved quality of life; (2) private-public relations; and (3) the data needed for accountable decision making. Seven elements are suggested which will lay the groundwork for change. Historical government action on full employment is reviewed. (PS)

Describes the structure and internal dynamics of Israeli residential schools and the change processes that have developed in recent decades. Concludes that the residential schools reflect the larger community outside and provide a second chance for many students to learn to function effectively yet autonomously. (KH)

The author describes the process of randomized study for charter schools. Because most charter schools have more applicants than places, which are awarded by lottery, it is possible to follow a charter school's entire pool of applicants. The author contrasts the ability of using the entire applicant to pool of charter schools to a study that…

Throughout the United States the debate has been frequent, intense, and at times adversarial over how to fund education adequately. Maine has been trying to identify higher performing schools in the hope that practices that contribute to success at higher performing schools can be adapted at similar schools throughout the state. The 1997…

The present condition of rural education in the western region of China is not optimistic. Existing problems include lacking education investment, poor school-running conditions, simplified running pattern and laggard concept of education. The countermeasures are: firstly, governments at all level especially the center one should increase input to…

The Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP) entry effect experiment was designed to measure the effect of the future availability of an earnings supplement on the behavior of newly enrolled income assistance (IA) recipients. It used a classical randomized design. From a sample of 3,315 single parents who recently started a new period of IA, one-half were…

Some previous research has found that smaller schools perform at higher levels than larger schools and reduce the negative effects of poverty on school performance. This paper analyzes the effects of school size on four measures of school performance in elementary schools in Fayette County, Kentucky; elementary schools in Fayette and Jefferson…

Using data from 13 years (1983-95) of the March Current Population Survey, a study examined how the types of jobs held by welfare mothers during the preceding year affected their employment and earnings at the time of the March interview. The models estimated were probit, tobit, and selection-bias corrected regressions using data on individuals.…

The federal Universal Service Fund--the E-Rate--helps provide Internet access to schools and libraries. This report analyzes how public schools' participation in the E-Rate program varied by their percentage American Indian enrollment, with a focus on Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools. The analysis covers program Year 1 (January 1998-June…