In this paper, the author provides a buffet of ideas to make a coherent case for a democracy in which citizens can be truly sovereign by becoming the agents of their own destiny. He traces the history of various trends which threaten the development of civic agency: technocracy, specialism, and a consumer-view of the citizen, among others. He also…

Collaborative efforts between school districts and higher education institutions to address access, retention, and achievement issues for underrepresented students have grown in recent years. Yet many of these university or school district-led efforts possess limited understanding of the community context for systemic change, and engage community…

Research at the University of Leeds has evaluated how well changes to healthcare proposed in the Government White Paper "Valuing People" (Department of Health 2001) were being implemented in one locality and their impact on people with learning disabilities. The project had a developmental aspect and incorporated two workshops over the…

Today's school leaders are searching for a way to give value to and effectively manage a school's intangible assets to create a more holistic picture of student success. Schools establish partnerships with community organizations towards this end and to ultimately impact student learning. Utilizing the framework of principals as "knowledge…

Community groups often seek to engage with schools in promoting environmental education goals. A collaborative initiative is described in which university pre-service teacher education students were encouraged to create Web-based teaching and learning resources, related to rainforests and world heritage areas, for use at primary and secondary…

Coalitions have key roles in helping their communities accomplish the following: (1) Track the level of literacy in the community; (2) Use that information to help identify what, and how much, literacy assistance is needed; (3) Assess the extent to which community literacy programs are meeting the need, including how well existing literacy…

Purpose: The aim of this study is to highlight factors influencing the commitment of nurses, and particularly focuses on the role of training, development and career issues. It provides the basis for a HRD framework, outlining policy choices in developing high commitment amongst nursing staff. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative research…

In 1996, United Way of America (UWA) developed and began disseminating the most widely used approach to program outcome measurement in the nonprofit sector. Today an estimated 450 local United Ways encourage approximately 19,000 local agencies they fund to measure outcomes. The authors first describe and then assess the strengths and limitations…

The research reported here tested the factor structure of a measure for sense of community in community organizations, and it evaluated sense of community's potential as an empowering organizational characteristic within an organizational empowerment framework. Randomly selected community organization participants (N = 561) were surveyed as part…

Individuals of color with disabilities and/or their family members need access to services and supports that will assist them with daily life and a way to advocate for these services. Disability organizations, whose core mission is advocacy, have had difficulty attracting and maintaining persons of color with disabilities or their family members…

Nassau County (New York) library system conducted a study to ascertain the level of library service in governmental and nongovernmental departments, agencies, offices and organizations in Nassau County; to determine what additional library services were needed; and to recommend how they could best be achieved. (Author/PF)

Over 200 organizations, having as their primary emphasis the betterment of the Spanish-speaking American, are listed in this directory. Brief resumes of the organizations include name, address, principal officer(s), date of establishment, and a synopsis of objectives and activities. Six organizations are considered national in scope and constitute…

Analysis of interorganizational relationships in a rural county show that the number of volunteers is a particularly useful predictor of interorganizational participation, besides degree of autonomy from parent organization, complexity, size, and auspices. (Author/KR)

Describes the organization of a community telephone referral service, built and run by community volunteers assisted by staff members of the community mental health center. Principles of community project development are discussed. (AN)

Describes the role of adult education as a crucial community service and particularly deals with the adult educational needs of the disadvantaged and handicapped. (AN)