Keeping Community Stakeholders Informed About the Rationale for Program Changes

Communication is the key element in much of education. Gathering input and utilizing the information to help educators understand community perceptions is a vehicle that has long been underutilized in schools. This article will examine the historical perspectives of involvement and communication and provide concrete suggestions for keeping all stakeholders informed about the continually changing landscape of education. The authors use communication about Common Core State Standards as an example for keeping stakeholders informed about school change

Keeping Community Stakeholders Informed About the Rationale for Program Changes (editorial)

An editorial comment: Communication is the key element in much of education. Gathering input and utilizing the information to help educators understand community perceptions is a vehicle that has long been underutilized in schools

Collaborative Governance Assessment

This is the report of APFIC/FAO Regional Consultative Workshop, "Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries: Bringing together responsible fisheries and social development", held at theWindsor Suites Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand, 6-8 October 2010. The 72 participants came from a cross section of fisheries sector stakeholders including from 20 countries and 12 Regional Fisheries Bodies and Regional Organizations and 14 fish workers' organizations, disaster preparedness and response agencies, and other civil society organizations. The workshop's objectives were to receive guidance from regional and national stakeholders on the nature, principles and key thematic areas of a possible international instrument to plan, implement and report on securing sustainability in small-scale fisheries. The workshop was further tasked to develop high priority actions and identify potential gaps in the implementation of good governance practices in small-scale fisheries and related assistance needs

The Vermonter\u27s Guide to the Farm Bill

The Farm Bill is a comprehensive set of laws and programs that dictates United States policies across the food system. While it may seem that a farm bill is only related to agriculture, this legislation, in reality, includes a broad set of policies on food production, nutrition assistance, rural community development, research, the environment, international trade, and more. Often known as a farm and food bill, the legislation impacts food systems stakeholders, including those who farm, live in a rural community, and even those who eat food—so that is everyone. Considering the widespread impacts of the Farm Bill, it is important for citizens to share their voice and opinions as our congressional representatives redraft the next version of food and agricultural policy. Congress creates a new Farm Bill approximately every five years. Before the bill is signed into law, Congress looks to the communities whom they represent across the country to express their thoughts on the current state of the food system. Federal policy has implications for every state. The federal Farm Bill has vast impacts in Vermont. Funding for various programs ranging from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (known in state as 3Squares Vermont), rural broadband support, farm to school grants, sustainable agriculture research and extension, beginning farmer programs, and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)—to name a few. The purpose of this guide is to help Vermonters understand the Farm Bill, what Farm Bill advocacy looks like in Vermont, and a synopsis of ways that Vermonters can get involved in the policy development process and have their voices heard. This guide is politically neutral, and does not seek to advise readers on specific issues for which they should advocate. With the input of various Vermont stakeholder organizations from across the state in addition to congressional staff members, this guide serves to support individuals throughout Vermont to get involved in Farm Bill policy discussions

A Compass in the Woods: Learning Through Grantmaking to Improve Impact

The field of philanthropy is under increasing pressure to produce – and be able to demonstrate – greater impact for its investments. A growing number of foundations are moving away from the traditional responsive banker model to becoming more thoughtful and engaged partners with their grantees in the business of producing outcomes. In the process, they are placing bigger bets on larger, more strategic programs and initiatives.  What the field is striving to do now is to ensure that this evolution is based on validated theory, not wishful thinking or shots in the dark. The larger the investment, the more skilled foundations must become at managing risk – making informed decisions, tracking progress, adjusting action and learning – throughout the life of a program, so that foreseeable and unforeseeable changes do not torpedo an otherwise worthy collective effort. The traditional grant?to?evaluation?to?adjustment cycle is very long. Because many traditional grantmaking practices are proving to be too slow to adapt, these foundations are striving to better integrate real?time evaluation and learning into their operations in order to become more adaptive; more innovative; more impactful.We undertook this research project to inform how the tools and practices that support Emergent   Learning (described in the next section) can best help foundations and their communities – grantees, intermediaries and other stakeholders – improve the way they learn in complex programs and initiatives

A Participatory Model for Evaluating Social Programs

Describes the participatory approach to evaluation, which emphasizes client participation in the design and implementation process

Workforce Intermediaries: Powering Regional Economies in the New Century

Examines the role of workforce intermediary organizations in developing local strategies and funding, and coordinating the efforts of stakeholders in regional economic development. Outlines the qualities of successful workforce intermediary organizations

Integrating services for young children and their families

In an effort to improve outcomes for young children and their families, governments in all developed nations are making efforts to integrate services more effectively. This Policy Brief explores the rationale behind these efforts, what is known about their effectiveness, and the implications for policy makers and practitioners. In this Brief, integrating services refers to the process of building connections between services of different types so as to create a system that is more comprehensive and cohesive, as well as services being more accessible and more responsive. Why is this issue important? Over the past few decades, families have become more diverse, and the circumstances in which they are raising young children have changed significantly. As a result, parenting young children has become a more complex and more stressful task for many families, and there are more families with complex problems

Land Use Planning for Solar Energy: Resource Guide

This document was created to help New York State localities develop and adopt solar friendly policies and plans. It begins by presenting the local government’s role in land use planning and regulation and introduces common characteristics of “solar friendly” communities. The resource then describes how municipalities should begin a solar energy initiative through an official policy statement that provides support for solar energy and that authorizes a task force to shepherd the process, appropriate studies, training programs for staff and board members, inter-municipal partnerships, and outside funding sources. Next, the document explains how municipalities should engage the entire community in the solar energy initiative process to ensure support for the initiative and its implementation. Finally, the resource presents local planning best practices that communities can incorporate into their comprehensive plans, subarea plans, or other plans. Throughout, this document provides helpful resources and examples that communities can use to develop effective solar energy policies and plans

A National Portrait of Domestic Violence Courts

A growing number of criminal courts nationwide handle domestic violence cases on separate calendars, termed domestic violence courts. There are now 208 confirmed domestic violence courts across the U.S. (Center for Court Innovation 2009). More than 150 similar projects have been established internationally. Some domestic violence courts emerged in the context of the broader "problem-solving court" movement and share characteristics with other specialized courts, such as separate dockets and specially trained judges. However, the origins of domestic violence courts are also distinct, growing out of the increased attention afforded domestic violence matters by the justice system over the past 30 years. With funding from the National Institute of Justice, this study explores how criminal domestic violence courts have evolved, their rationale, and how their operations vary across the U.S. This study does not test whether domestic violence courts reduce recidivism, protect victims, or achieve other specific effects -- although we provide a thorough literature review on these points. Rather, our aim is to present a comprehensive national portrait of the field as it exists today, laying the groundwork for future information exchange and research