By using special teachable moments, small segments of lessons, or short periods of time during the school day, classroom teachers can integrate cooperative games, rhythmical activities, fundamentals of movement, outdoor recreation, and leisure concepts into the rural elementary school curriculum. Prime considerations should include fun, action,…

Develops a proposed model for the establishment of rural teacher centers which calls for and defines teacher educator involvement, establishes interdependence between rural school districts, and depends on local teachers for direction. (Author)

This article emphasizes the need to develop special education policy and practice appropriate for rural students. The article examines recommended practices for improving delivery of services to rural schools, services readily available to rural families and communities, and the role of the rural special educator. (Author/PB)

This paper discusses the question of standardization and educational equity among rural school systems and offers three "fundamental challenges" for educators. The first challenge is to take seriously the power of education and to resist the temptation to reduce expectations placed on education and educators. The power of education is…

Points out eight factors consistently associated with effective schools (academic focus, student participation in decision-making, etc.) and eight common problems with effective schools projects (short-term focus, unrealistic expectations, etc.). Summarizes successful projects at a K-12 village school and an urban junior high school. (JHZ)

This booklet is written for educators who want to play a leadership role in the instructional use of computers and other information technology in precollege education. Although it is oriented toward the United States and Canada, many ideas are applicable in other countries. The first part of the book, the preface through Chapter 10, is a…

Questionnaires completed by 374 teachers were used to determine differences in the instructional and noninstructional responsibilities of elementary teachers in very small, small, and medium school districts in Montana. Questions about instructional duties related to number of courses and grade levels taught, pupil/teacher ratio, teacher role in…

This series of four essays is designed to share practical, workable strategies for quality rural education. The first essay, Ernest Lohman's "It's About Time...," gives an overview of the effective schooling concept and then looks specifically at ways a classrooom teacher can apply that concept. The essay includes a bibliography. The…

Addressing the problems of recruiting and retaining qualified teachers for small and rural schools, this digest outlines improvements that could be made by teacher education programs, state education agencies, school superintendents, and teachers themselves. Suggested guidelines for teacher education programs stress nontraditional approaches that…

A model of service delivery to rural handicapped children trains classroom teachers onsite to be "Cooperative Extension Service Agents" within their schools. University faculty bring graduate coursework to the school site and "Agent" teachers provide special education inservice assistance to fellow teachers, facilitating local…

School reform in the 1990s has been focused on school-based restructuring, with local efforts shown to be more successful than earlier central or remote control approaches. Success has followed changes in teachers' classroom behavior, in the structure of the school, and its school culture. The local school restructuring approach is illustrated…

Two areas--understanding what rural education is and what its real needs are--are critical in preparing educators, specifically language arts educators, for a rural setting. Although the problems facing these teachers are many, minimal preparation and training at the college level deal with the rural setting. Mainly due to funding, modern…

Based on research studies of effective staff development and rural education, the Inservice Leadership Team (ILT) was designed to identify key teachers in school buildings, team them with principals and central office staff, and train the team to design, deliver, and evaluate staff development at the school level. Rural Pennsylvania school staff,…

To meet the need for improved science instruction in rural schools, a project to identify, honor, and provide training for outstanding rural science teachers in grades 6-9 was designed cooperatively by the National Science Foundation, Kansas State University, Kansas Cosmosphere and Discovery Center, and rural school districts. In order to create a…

Key points of presentations are captured in this report of a conference which addressed issues of concern to educators in Alaska's small schools and provided an opportunity for educators to share classroom approaches that work for them. A total of 77 presentations are briefly summarized. Contents are organized under the following headings: (1)…