While a quarter of all American students are enrolled in rural public schools, many rural teachers and administrators believe that education stakeholders are slow to fully recognize and address the unique challenges facing rural educators. This brief discusses recent steps taken by the federal government and individual states to address the…

This paper describes the distinct strengths and weaknesses of special education in rural schools and discusses issues regarding rural education reform recommendations, such as inadequate resources, parental involvement, and use of rigidly interpreted performance standards. Preventive service delivery systems are recommended, and several policy…

Representatives of six Appalachian states and of various relevant constituencies identified barriers to adult participation in postsecondary education in their region and strategies for removal of those barriers. An extensive review of the literature and committee member reports and surveys suggested policy, dispositional, situational, and…

Part 2 of this congressional hearing contains the testimony and prepared statements of 31 witnesses on the topics of rural community resources, the rural labor force, rural finance, and rural education to assist the Subcommittee on Agriculture and Transportation in identifying the problems and potential of America's rural economy. With emphasis on…

Rural education may be the beneficiary of the current national focus on educational reform since concerns have centered on improving education for all students regardless of where they live, a direction not emphasized in most previous reform movements. The reforms bring challenges relating to teacher certification, curriculum, facilities, student…

Approximately one-fourth of those involved in adult learning live in rural areas. A survey of programs serving rural adult learners reveals that no one educational provider or program seems best suited to provide services to rural communities. What successful providers have in common are programs which: (1) respond to a specific societal need, (2)…

Findings of a study to establish the determinants and effects of urban to rural population migration patterns in Osceola County, Michigan, where a 27.6% increase (4,090 people) occurred during the 1970's, illustrate typical effects of population migration turnaround on nonmetropolitan schools. The study revealed that school facilities were…

This paper argues that: (1) technology with its ability to individually tutor each child has rendered the blackboard classroom based on group teaching obsolete; (2) state leaders must provide the initiatives it will take for America to make the transition to the technology-driven classroom by the year 2000; and (3) a significant portion of the…

The paper describes program initiatives undertaken during the 1984-85 school year by a rural educational cooperative, the Cayuga-Onondaga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (New York State), in an effort to bridge the gap between "current best practices" and local educational program opportunities for 110 school-aged students with…

Attention is being directed to telecommunications and computer technologies as a possible way of delivering education to small rural schools in a cost-effective way. Characteristics of new technology and environmental changes having particular relevance for rural schools include the abilities to transcend space, network, redefine learning as…

The results of centralization of one of the larger "small-rural" school districts in New York State are examined in this case study. The demographics of Yorkville and the feelings and opinions that residents have about their communities and schools are discussed first. Next, the history of the school system since 1950, when the district…

The circumstances preceding and following the 1984 merger of two small school districts in North Central New York State contained cooperation, controversy, and disharmony. The school districts had enough similarities--in their rural, agricultural base, in the pride and loyalty with which many residents viewed their schools, in the central role…

This case study considers why community members of two rural New York School districts reacted so strongly against a referendum for school district reorganization in February 1983. State and local school officials introduced into this reorganization effort a unique plan designed to achieve community support for the merger. Rather than have the…

In February 1999, the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission initiated the National Inquiry into Rural and Remote Education, which investigated the provision of education for children in rural and remote Australia. The inquiry took evidence at formal public hearings in every state and territory and at less formal meetings with…

The report of the 25-member National Advisory Council on Rural Development, appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture, defines rural needs and sets forth strategies for rural development in the 1980's. A review of the decade between 1970 and 1980 discusses rapid economic growth of rural areas, social progress, and changes in public service, and…