A 5-year research and development program, known as the Radio Language Arts Project (RLAP), was conducted in Kenya to develop, implement, and test the effectiveness of an instructional system that uses radio to teach English as a foreign language in the first three grades of primary school. The initial project year was spent in establishing and…

Information concerning methods and available materials for conserving energy is needed by small, rural schools to offset continued increasing energy costs and lack of financial support and technical assistance. The first step in developing an energy conservation policy is to obtain school board commitment and to establish an energy saving policy.…

This digest reviews recent evidence of the positive effects of small-scale schooling on student achievement. Historically, larger school size has been viewed as an important educational reform producing cost-effectiveness and educational efficiency. Today, small-scale schooling is found primarily in rural areas and small towns. A 1964 study…

Examines racial composition of population growth in 75 Midwestern counties experiencing substantial immigration; concludes that the inmigrant stream is predominantly White. Examines reasons given by 500 urban-to-rural migrants to those counties. Suggests exploration of the hypothesis that racial aversion is implicated in migration to rural areas.…

Rural schools bear a responsibility for taking all appropriate measures to protect their youth from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A national survey of 400 rural schools, with 100 responding schools, reveals that the HIV education offered in most rural schools does not meet the standards health educators suggest. Recommends a community…

The purpose of these hearings was to review the progress in Mississippi of two programs (Star Schools and Chapter 1, both initiated under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) which use technology in order to provide instructional programs for economically disadvantaged students in rural schools. Included are testimonies of administrators…

Based on data from a 1982-1983 study and from other sources, the average annual salaries of teachers in rural schools were compared, by geographical region, with salaries for all public elementary and secondary teachers in the United States, and the average beginning salary for rural teachers was compared with regional data for beginning public…

Recruiting and retaining qualified, competent teachers is an ongoing problem for small school administrators. The reasons for high turnover are numerous and complex, e.g., preservice preparation is presently more suitable for large, metropolitan schools than for small, rural schools; career orientations fail to recognize that experience in small…

Career ladders have been proposed as one way to address problems rural and small schools have in recruiting academically able and talented teachers, recognizing them once they start teaching, and retaining them in the teaching role. While there are differences in career ladder plans, there are also some common features, e.g., predetermined…

Between 2001 and 2005, the state of Maine shifted the focus of its statewide high school improvement efforts to include an explicit focus on adolescent literacy. One trigger for that change in focus was a 5-school adolescent literacy initiative previously launched in a rural county under the federal Northeast and Islands Regional Educational…

This report examines the demographic trends, social realities, and complexities that can potentially transform American secondary schools. It describes the nature of diversity in the world and nation and between and within states and school districts. Such information can be useful in selecting successful strategies for implementing changes in the…

In March 2005, Governor Tom Vilsack and a committee of 12 legislators endorsed proposals intended to "make Iowa's public schools more efficient and improve achievement." Among the proposals was one calling for an education commission that would recommend to the 2007 Legislature a minimum school district and high school size. In light of…

Many rural school districts struggling with declining elementary school enrollments will soon face the more complex problems of declining high school enrollment. School districts with only one high school do not have the option of consolidation and must find innovative solutions to the problem of maintaining educational quality with dwindling…

This digest considers the problems of foreign language instruction in small high schools and discusses possible solutions. A critical challenge for American education, pointed out by reform reports of the 1980's, is improvement of instruction in foreign languages to instill language proficiency. These national concerns have been translated into…

At present, there is an ongoing re-examination of the practicality of the existence of many small rural community schools. In some states there is a continuing battle over a new round of small school closings, and reconsolidation efforts are underway to once again change or reorganize the educational infrastructure of rural community schools.…