Center for Social Research
Believe 2 Become Seeks to Boost Academic Achievement in Grand Rapids
Fifteen thousand children in Grand Rapids are being served by the Believe 2 Become initiative (“B2B”). The initiative focuses on four neighborhood “Hope Zones.” The Community Research Institute at Grand Valley State University is a research partner for the CSR, and they provide maps and demographic profiles of each neighborhood.
By supporting strong schools, community partnership, parent resources, and student experiences, B2B hopes to help students achieve success in school, work, and life by the year 2025. Believe 2 Become is a partnership of Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS), Grand Rapids Student Advancement Foundation, dozens of community‐based and faith‐based organizations, and the Douglas and Maria DeVos Foundation.
These groups are investing in teacher training and system support at GRPS and are sponsoring after-school study programs and a summer learning program.
B2B is also sponsoring a Neighborhood Engagement program. In this program, staff members from LINC Community Revitalization, Inc. conduct community meetings, organize community events, and go door-to-door educating parents: all with the goal of promoting knowledge of and encouraging action toward student success.
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Report on 2009 Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Survey
 | Since 2004, CSR has been supporting the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA) in its Sustaining Pastoral Excellence project, which has been funded by grants from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Three waves of surveys have been conducted on an approximately biennial bases, in 2004/2005 (which we're now labeling "2005" for simplicity's sake), 2007 and 2009. A full report is now available comparing all three survey waves and including statistical models of pastors' self-reported pastoral health (vocational satisfaction and sustainability), leadership skills, and congregational fulfillment of the CRC's mission statement. The report finds statistical stability across all three waves--excellence is indeed being sustained. But we also identify many areas of concern with room for improvement, especially council support through systematic feedback on preaching. The statistical models suggest that programmatic interventions per se have mixed effects, but targeting leadership skill development could stimulate improvements in pastoral health. The following resources are available from CSR; also see the SPE project's survey page.
UPDATE 12/20: The CRC Newsroom has a story about the survey. UPDATE 1/15: The Grand Rapids Press has written a story about the survey. |
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Calvin Economics blog
Don’t miss the Calvin Economics blog from our colleagues in the Department of Economics.
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Explanations for Church Mobilization against AIDS in Africa
Despite local, national, and global attention to AIDS in Africa, an estimated 1.4 million Africans died of the disease in 2008, the same number as in 2001. As central institutions in many African societies, churches have responded to AIDS in various ways, from ignoring the disease, to providing care for the sick, to demanding state responses. Using data from news articles and interviews with AIDS activists, church leaders, AIDS policymakers, and donor officials in Zambia, Kenya, the United States, and Ghana conducted between 2007 and 2010, Professor Amy Patterson, Political Science, presents an analysis of these church AIDS activities in Africa. She argues that church organizational structures, pastoral leadership, and the opportunities provided by globalization and the continent’s presumed “dependence” on the West shape African church mobilization on AIDS. Please join CSR for Dr. Patterson's presentation and the ensuing discussion. |
Thursday October 7, 2010 3:30 p.m., Meeter Center Lecture Hall Calvin College Refreshments provided |
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Farewell, Jim Penning
 | CSR staff and students are mourning the loss of our beloved director, Dr. James Penning. Jim left us for glory the evening of July 13. He will be sorely missed, as his warmth, humor and insight made our work a joy. You can read more about Dr. Penning’s character and achievements and the timing of services from the Calvin College news service. An obituary is online at the Grand Rapids Press. |
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