A four-session discussion guide to help schools and communities improve academic achievement for all students. (continue)

This series by journalist Julie Fanselow tells the stories of people who are using study circles to create real change in their communities. These printed 7x10 inch booklets, most of which are less than 10 pages long, are a great example of how dialogue programs can share their successes with decision-makers, citizens and clients. The booklets introduce the struggles and successes of study circles in Montgomery County, MD, Kansas City, KS, Kuna, ID, Springfield, IL and Vermont. (continue)

Comment Connection is a subscription service customized for public participation professionals and the challenges they face in collecting, analyzing and reporting public comment. Comments can be tracked from multiple projects and multiple project phases. (continue)

The term "National Issues Forums" is used to refer to both a network of programs and a deliberative process. National Issues Forums (NIF) is an independent network of civic and educational groups which use "issue books" as a basis for deliberative choice work in forums based on the town meeting tradition. NIF issue books use research on the public's concerns to identify three or four options or approaches to an issue. Presenting issues in this way invites citizens to confront the conflicts among different options and avoids the usual debates in which people lash out with simplistic arguments. (continue)

This paper, written primarily for practitioners and commissioners of public participation and community engagement, introduces the "Triangle of Engagement," which postulates that the higher the level of engagement required from participants, the fewer people there are who are willing or able to make this commitment. Some of the implications of this model for the practice of public participation are then considered. (continue)

A brief overview of ideas that can assist in making civic engagement efforts more inclusive and representative of your community. (continue)

AmericaSpeaks, a non-profit organization, engages citizens in the public decisions that impact their lives through their innovative 21st Century Town Meetings, as well as citizen engagement consulting, strategic planning services, and public speaking. Their quarterly e-newsletter is geared towards their network of AmericaSpeaks facilitators. (continue)

The EPA's Public Involvement Policy was produced in 2003 by the United States Office of Policy, Economics, Environmental and Innovation Protection Agency. It is available for download at www.epa.gov/publicinvolvement/policy2003/policy2003.pdf. (continue)

This is Tom Atlee's summary of his 2005 trip to a groundbreaking conference on Innovation in Community Engagement in Perth, Australia. The conference took place on May 30 and 31, 2005 at the Burswood Convention Centre. This text was originally posted in NCDD's old Happenings blog. (continue)

This 6-minute video highlights the efforts of Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland) Study Circles Program to address racism and student achievement in the district's schools and community. Includes Spanish subtitles. (continue)