query: evaluating grassroots organizing

Tue Jul 22 14:58:26 CDT 2008

[ed:  thanks to Bill for the resource.]

From:
"Ward, William" <wward at health.usf.edu>

A good friend of mine, Al Wolfe, created a system for tracking the types 
of interactions among non profit organizations which could be used to 
determine some aspects of community organizing:

*    Alvin Wolfe
*    Reviewed work(s): Research Methods in Social Network Analysis by 
Linton C. Freeman; Douglas R. White; A. Kimball Romney

*    American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 92, No. 3 (Sep., 1990), 
pp. 824-826   (review consists of 3 pages)
*    Published by: Blackwell Publishing 
<http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=black>  on 
behalf of the American Anthropological Association 
<http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=anthro> 
*    Note: This article is a review of another work, such as a book, 
film, musical composition, etc. The original work is not included in the 
purchase of this review.

Bill Ward

Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
> --------
> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
> All replies to this message come to COMM-ORG only.
> --------
>  
> [ed:  thanks to Bob, Michelle, Corey, Kathy, and Matt for replying to 
> Dan's query.]
>
> From: "Robert O. Bothwell" <bob at bobbothwell.org>
>
>
> Dan:  You might want to review my work, Foundation Funding of Grassroots 
> Organizations, which might offer some insights from funders' 
> perceptions.  See http://comm-org.wisc.edu/papers2001/bothwell.htm
> Bob Bothwell
>
> *******************************
>
> From: Michelle Renee <mrenee at ucla.edu>
>
>
> Hi Dan,
>
> I would check out the work of Research for Action  
> http://www.researchforaction.org.  They are in your backyard and have 
> done some fantastic work in collaboration with community organizations.  
> Another good start is the recent report from the Annenberg Institute for 
> School Reform-- they developed very interesting indicators of the impact 
> of community organizing for education reform 
> http://www.annenberginstitute.org/CIP/ (it can be downloaded from the 
> left side of the page).
>
> Best,
> Michelle Renee
> Postdoctoral Fellow
> UC All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity
>
> *******************************
>
> From: "Shdaimah, Corey" <CSHDAIMAH at ssw.umaryland.edu>
>
>
> Hi Dan
> This might may be a bit of a side issue, but one of the concerns coming 
> out of the push for accountability often involves the benefits and risks 
> of collaborations between academic researchers and grass roots 
> advocates.  These collaborations are mandated sometimes by funders or 
> considered strategically important by advocacy groups. Grass roots 
> groups may not have existing capacity to do evaluations completely on 
> their own, and so may have to work with others who do. From the other 
> side, many academics (myself included) seek work that is relevant and 
> makes a difference out in the world and so are drawn to collaborative work.
> I have written a couple of pieces on that with a colleague, Roland 
> Stahl, on a project that we did with the Women's Community 
> Revitalization Project in your neck of the woods (Philly).
>
> The one most that is most relevant for practice is:
> Stahl, R., & Shdaimah, C.S., (2007) “Collaboration between community 
> advocates and academic researchers: Scientific advocacy or political 
> research” British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcm069
>
> David Koppisch and Amy Hillier also did a piece on another 
> Philadelphia-based collaboration that addresses similar issues.
> Hillier, A. and Koppisch, D. (2005) ‘Community activists and university 
> researchers collaborating
> for affordable housing: Dual perspectives on the experience’, Journal of
> Poverty, 9(4), pp. 27–48.
>
> While I can only hope that someone would consider our work seminal :) I 
> do believe that both of these articles might provide some reflection and 
> concrete advice that might be useful.
>
> Best
> Corey
>
>
>
> Corey Shdaimah, LL.M., Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor
> Academic Coordinator, MSW/JD Dual Degree Program
> School of Social Work
> University of Maryland, Baltimore
> 525 West Redwood Street
> Baltimore, Maryland 21201
> 410-706-7544
>
> *****************************************
>
> From: Kathy Partridge <interfaithfunders at yahoo.com>
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I want to let Dan and the list know that we at Interfaith Funders are 
> also interested in doing a thoughtful critique of the "outcomes based" 
> or "accountability based" or "logic model" of evaluation that seem to be 
> increasing in popularity amongst grantmakers.  We are both concerned 
> that the model is not a fit for community organizing and want to present 
> that concern to our colleagues, but are also wanting to explore how 
> community organizations can better describe their work using the model.  
> Dan, I'd be very interested in staying in touch with you about your 
> research.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Kathy Partridge
> Executive Director
> Interfaith Funders
> www.interfaithfunders.org
> 2719 Denver Ave.
> Longmont, CO  80503
> Voice 720-494-9011
> Fax 708-585-6434  Cell 303-594-6434
>  
> ************************************
>
> From:  matt oppenheim <oppenm at earthlink.net>
>
>
> I AM ALSO EAGER TO GAIN NEW KNOWLEDGE IN THIS AREA, ESPECIALLY 
> UNDERSTANDING HOW PARENT AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT IMPACTS ACADEMIC 
> ACHIEVEMENT.  THERE IS A LARGE BODY OF WORK REGARDING THE IMPACTS OF 
> PARENT INVOLVEMENT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT THAT WOULD BE RELEVANT TO 
> OTHER AREAS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE ARE MANY STUDIES 
> OF LEADERSHIP AND ITS IMPACTS.  GOOGLE "A NEW WAVE OF EVIDENCE; THE 
> IMPACTS OF SCHOOL FAMILY AND COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS ON ACADEMIC ACHEIVEMENT"
>
> KEEP US POSTED
>
>
> Matt Oppenheim, MAA, PhDc
> Family Involvement Coordinator
> Albuquerque Public Schools
>
> Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
>   
>> --------
>> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
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>>  
>> [ed: please feel welcomed to copy COMM-ORG with replies to Dan's query.]
>>
>> From: Dan Weinles <DWeinles at gpuac.org>
>>
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>>
>>
>> I am trying to develop a research agenda that seeks to examine 
>> challenges to grass roots programming / organizations related to the 
>> growing level of accountability-based funding requirements they are 
>> facing. Specifically, I would like to detail the barriers that grass 
>> roots initiatives must overcome in order to gain capacity to effectively 
>> measure and evaluate the quality and the effects of what they do. The 
>> end goal would be to develop a set of concrete recommendations to assist 
>> grass roots organizations in developing evaluative capacity. I am new to 
>> this area of study and am not familiar with existing research. I was 
>> hoping that someone out there in the field might be able to direct me to 
>> any seminal work that has already been done or to the key search words 
>> or phrases that would be most effective for findings such a body of 
>> research. Randy Stoecker has already given me some food for thought, 
>> which I will pursue. I’d like to hear from as many people as have 
>> knowledge and experience in this area.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thanks in advance for your guidance.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Dan Weinles, PhD
>>
>> Senior Research Associate
>>
>> Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition
>>
>> 1207 Chestnut St., #622
>>
>> Philadelphia, PA 19107
>>
>> Office (215) 851-1986
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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