This synthesis aims to provide policymakers with a comprehensive overview of issues surrounding the reorganization of small rural school districts. The report draws on research findings and describes examples of various organizational arrangements to address rural education needs. Seven sections examine the following: (1) current social and…

This report provides demographic, statistical, and other indicator data related to rural education in the Mid-Atlantic region of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The data are intended to aid state rural assistance councils in developing plans to improve rural schools. One obstacle to consistent policy implementation is the…

Suggests school boards separate from day-to-day administrative operations, concentrate on futuristic five-year plans, and work with a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) in subgroups to study all areas of responsibility in order to respond to rising median population age and emerging high-tech society. Would provide optimum accountability and…

In 1988, 66 of Tennessee's rural school districts brought suit against the state government claiming that the school funding system of a local option sales tax discriminates against rural areas. This study examines the effects of increased reliance on local sales tax revenue on Tennessee's school expenditures. Not every county can support a major…

Promotion rate differences in Brazilian rural and urban primary schools prompted an investigation of educational problems in rural areas. Four case studies were conducted in lower (1st through 4th grade) and upper (5th through 8th grade) rural primary schools in three regions of Espirito Santo State which have different cultures, languages, and…

This booklet surveys the possibilities in instituting a 4-day school week, an approach which has gained favor in some small school districts. The history of the 4-day week and its characteristics are first described. Drawing on case studies of districts that have begun the 4-day schedule, the authors enumerate the steps in proposing and…

This review explores the debate on optimal school size and discusses policy options available to states for expanding curricular offerings in small rural schools. Policy options are divided into three broad categories: traditional, modified traditional, and nontraditional. The report explores the possibilities available under each approach,…

In six policy areas, states can better equip rural community colleges to serve their communities. In the area of economic and community development, states can use rural community colleges to promote community development efforts and service learning and to provide small business assistance and entrepreneurship education. States can improve access…

Examines shared education perceptions regarding school effectiveness; expansion, operation, resources, test scores, and the role of schools in education. Questions traditional beliefs regarding school size and educational quality. Introduces new ideas created by innovation and reform. Examines rural education, employment and economic development…

This handbook provides information about interagency collaboration and educational partnerships in rural New York to service providers, planners, and policymakers. A survey identified 52 existing collaborative programs involving approximately 190 New York school districts and 100 nondistrict agencies and examined size and configuration of…

This report examines the educational opportunities offered by specially funded comprehensive secondary schools established in Israeli development towns during the 1960s. The results of an analysis of the 1980-81 academic year budgets of 51 schools in 26 towns, and an examination of the schools' absorption of students and their holding power, are…

In 1990 a comparative analysis was conducted of North Dakota student achievement across three forms of distance education: instruction by satellite, audiographic tele-learning, and two way interactive educational television. Based in part on the 1988 study of a German by Satellite program in Missouri and North Dakota, this study mailed…

Girls are only one of several groups that governments in Australia, as in other parts of the world, have recognized as suffering educational disadvantage. The problems of other groups are clear-cut and appropriate action plainly indicated. But in the case of girls, the causes are far more complex, entrenched in society, and education systems have…

Questions about effects of consolidation on Iowa's small schools can be answered through historical review and current assessment of nine small districts. By 1966, Iowa's 1912 School Consolidation Law and subsequent legislation had reduced 4,500 taxing units to 455, with each district offering K-12 programs to a total enrollment of at least 300…

Directed primarily toward small school administrators and school boards, this publication describes a consortium of five rural school districts in central Missouri and how they used a traveling teacher to facilitate incorporation of microcomputer capabilities into the school systems' operation and curriculum. The paper describes the use of the…