BUILDING ON THE EXISTING STRUCTURES - AN OUTREACH STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING THE CAPACITY FOR EDUCATION IN THE INNER CITIES

The dual purpose of this article is to describe the design and impleme ntation of a particular approach to dissemination and outreach used by the National Center on Education in the Inner Cities (CEIC). A major premise is that the growing problems facing today's children and famil ies stem from a variety of economic, political, and health pressures a nd that they have significant implications for this nation's capacity for education. Furthermore, the solutions to these problems are by nat ure complex, requiring the application of knowledge and expertise from many disciplines and professions. First, a Model for Outreach and Uti lization is described, followed by a discussion of the application of the model by CEIC, with emphases on building on existing structures fo r information dissemination and training and technical support for res earch utilization. The article closes with next-step recommendations d rawn from CEIC's experience in implementing the model.