A Reflection on Community Research and Action as an Evolving Practice

Community research and action is an evolving field of practice with multiple influences. Its varied ways of knowing and doing reflect recombined elements from different disciplines, including behavioral science, community psychology, public health, and community development. This article offers a personal reflection based on my evolving practice over nearly 50 years. The focus is on three types of influence: (a) engaging with different communities, fields, and networks (e.g., discovering shared values, diverse methods); (b) building methods and capabilities for the work (e.g., methods for participatory research, tools for capacity building); and (c) partnering for collaborative research and action, locally and globally. This story highlights the nature of the field’s evolution as an increasing variation in methods. Our evolving practice of community research and action—individually and collectively—emerges from the recombination of ideas and methods discovered through engagement in a wide variety of contexts

Teaching Job-Seeking Skills to Learning Disabled Adolescents: An Experimental Analysis and Social Validation

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.Procedures designed to teach the skills involved in completing an employment application and resume writing were evaluated with three learning disabled adolescents using a multiple-baseline design. Training involved reading instructional materials, practicing skills on sets of application materials to a criterion performance, and trainer feedback during and after each practice trial . Results showed that training was effective in teaching resume writing and employment application completion skills. Rating data obtained from potential employers suggest that training was effective in improving the appearance and content of the application materials. In addition, the employers viewed applicants as better qualified for employment after training and stated that they were more likely to invite the applicants in for a job interview. The study demonstrates an effective method of training job-seeking skills and for assessing the impact of training on employers' perception of the applicants

Behavioral Assessment of Occupational Skills of Learning Disabled Adolescents

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.This study, using direct observation and measurement techniques, analyzed the differences in occupational skills among learning disabled youths and their non-learning disabled peers . The results showed low levels of employment-related skills for both groups of high school adolescents . However, the non-LD high school students performed significantly better on the job-related skills. These differences were more marked for non-social interaction skills. These findings suggest the need for the development of employment preparation methods designed to teach the skills involved in finding and retaining employment

Development and Validation of an Occupational Skills Assessment Instrument

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.The development and validation of an occupational skills assessment instrument is described. The instrument was designed to describe accurately a participant's actual level of occupational skills in a variety of job-related situations. The results showed that: (a) the situations involved in the assessment were considered by participants and employment experts to be important and representative, (b) the satisfaction ratings of employment experts were correlated with the observed performance of participants, and (c) participant performance as observed with the behavioral assessment instrument was correlated with observations using another method of measuring job-related behavior. These findings suggest that the occupational skills assessment instrument is a reliable and valid method of determining a person's skill in job-related situations

Behavioral Assessment of Job-Related Skills: Implications for Learning Disabled Young Adults

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.Th is study, using direct observation and measurement techniques, analyzed the occupational skills of these two groups. The results showed that the employed adults performed significantly better on each of the thirteen job-related skills involved in the occupational skills assessment . These differences were found consistent across job-finding and job-retention skills. These findings suggest that an important role for employment counselors might be to teach the skills involved in finding and retaining employment to unemployed persons

Teaching Job-Related Social Skills to Learning Disabled Adolescents

This research was published by the KU Center for Research on Learning, formerly known as the University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning Disabilities.Previous research has indicated that LD adolescents perform poorly on a test of employment-related social skills (Mathews, Whang, & Fawcett, in press). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of training procedures designed to teach various job-related social skills to learning disabled adolescents. Six job-related social skills were trained using written instructional materials and role-playing practice to criterion. The results showed that the learning disabled adolescents performed the skills in role-playing situations better after training than before training. Generalization measures taken at the adolescents place of employment also suggest the generality of the training effects to actual work environments

A Guide to Writing Letters to Public Officials: Contributing to Important Decisions Affecting You and Others

A well-written personal letter may be the most effective way to communicate with public officials. They want to know how their constituents feel about issues, especially when those issues involve decisions by elected officials. Public officials usually know what lobbying groups are saying about an issue, but often they do not understand how a particular decision affects you. A well-written letter describing your experiences, observations, and opinions may change an official’s mind. The same guidelines are also useful for writing to private officials such as business owners, executives of groups like the chamber of commerce, or presidents of corporate boards of directors. These individuals can also make decisions that affect you or the public. You can write two types of letters – positive or negative. A positive letter explains why a decision is or would be good. You should write positive letters about favorable decisions. A negative letter explains your opposition to a pending decision. Writing effective letters builds your reputation as a thoughtful person in the eyes of officials and makes your criticisms more influential. This guide is designed to help you prepare effective letters. It includes examples of a positive letter and one that criticizes a pending decision. Specific steps for writing an effective letter are also described. Then you will write your own letter

A Guide for Personal Testimony: The Art of Using Your Personal Experiences to Influence Policy Decisions

The quality of life in any community is determined to some extent by the laws and policies of governmental units and agencies. One way of changing community conditions is to change the laws and policies. From a group’s perspective, any proposed change may be for the better or the worse. However, for changes in laws, regulations, or policies to occur, a public hearing is often required. During public hearings, people have an equal opportunity speak either for or against proposed changes. Many different types of testimony can be and usually are provided during public hearings. These may range from detailed, expert testimony using facts and figures to brief, personal testimony using personal experiences. Each type of testimony has great importance, because public officials often judge the importance of an issue by the number and type of comments they hear. The purpose of brief, personal testimony is to help those making the decision understand the issues in human or personal terms. As someone interested in giving personal testimony, your task is to tell a story about the changes being considered: to tell what they mean to you. This is not an easy task. It is never easy to talk about important things in limited time, and the issues may be very emotional ones. This testimony guide is designed to help you prepare your testimony and to teach you how to present it successfully

A Guide to Writing Letters to the Editor: Expressing Your Opinion to the Public Effectively

One way to express your opinion publicly is through a letter to the editor in your local newspaper. While every letter may not be published, editors pay attention to well-written letters. This is especially true when there are many letters written on the same topic. In turn, elected officials are also influenced by letters newspapers have chosen for publication. This guide will help you prepare an effective letter to the editor that expresses your opinion on an issue. It includes two letters about a controversial issue and specific guidelines on how to prepare a successful letter yourself. After you read the guide, prepare a letter yourself. Let a friend read it for clarity. Be sure to sign the letter and list your address – newspapers will not publish anonymous letters. Your letter can be positive, negative or informative in tone. It can also be emotional or objective. But it should be simple and short – rarely more than 300 words. And, of course, it should reflect your true opinions

A review of collaborative partnerships as a strategy for improving community health

Collaborative partnerships (people and organizations from multiple sectors working together in common purpose) are a prominent strategy for community health improvement. This review examines evidence about the effects of collaborative partnerships on (a) community and systems change (environmental changes), (b) community-wide behavior change, and (c) more distant population-level health outcomes. We also consider the conditions and factors that may determine whether collaborative partnerships are effective. The review concludes with specific recommendations designed to enhance research and practice and to set conditions for promoting community health.Annual Review of Public Health http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/loi/publhealt