Table of Contents >
Chapter 3. Assessing Community Needs and Resources >
Section 18. Creating and Using Community Report Cards >
Leading a Community Dialogue on Building a Healthy Community |
Examples | |
Laramie County Community Partnership
In Wyoming, the Laramie County Community Partnership issued a report card as a “catalyst for action." The coalition members evaluated the county’s progress toward certain goals in the areas of:
- Economy
- Education
- Health
- Public safety
- Social environment
City of Kingston, Ontario
On the premise that “what gets measured gets done,” the city of Kingston in Ontario, Canada, produced a Citizens Report Card to improve the way it delivers services to citizens. The report consolidated results of a Citizen’s Perception Survey and performance measures to provide both a user and management perspective.
American Society of Civil Engineers
On a national level, the American Society of Civil Engineers produces a report card on America’s infrastructure to promote action, involvement and policy development. This guide to the condition of roads, bridges, drinking water, aviation, etc., is intended to help people around the U.S. identify ways to encourage maintenance and repair of the infrastructure by helping them “recognize the critical need to invest in the design of new systems” where they live.
Report Cards on Education
The report card is a common (and logical) reporting format for educational groups in the U.S. The Nation’s Report Card is a national assessment of reading, writing, mathematics and science achievement in which large samples of 9-, 13- and 17- year olds are tested every four years. The results are made available to all citizens through extremely detailed charts and graphs, as in the Nation's Report Card: Reading 2005.
Individual school districts and entire states issue report cards on the performance of their schools in accordance with the goals set by the Educate America Act, which resulted from a national education summit in 1989. (See Internet Resources for more information. The Act is available online) The State of Ohio, for example, publishes report cards by district and for the state.
Oxfam Global
The Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium publishes a report card on the progress of compulsory education through the 9th grade in Afghanistan. You can see the March 2004 version.