According to the annual industry report in "Training" magazine, money spent on employee training dropped approximately six percent--the first time that training expenditures have dropped since the mid 1990's. At the same time, web-based training increased from 48% of all computer-based training to 61% in just one year (2002-2003). The…

Using identified factors that affect students' musical outcomes, this research study examined how instrumental music students attending "good" rural Appalachian high schools compared to other instrumental students. "Good" refers to those 12 Appalachian rural school districts identified as the best out of 46 rural county school…

The Internet and the Information Super Highway have become familiar buzz words. This paper briefly discusses five projects with the general aim of using telecommunications and the Internet to foster the renewal of math and science education in rural schools. The broad questions, "Does access to the Internet and the Information Superhighway…

This paper describes cooperative endeavors involving a team of researchers and the staff of two rural school districts. In early 1990, the researchers asked teachers and administrators in an economically distressed rural Tennessee district (pseudonym Iris) to participate in a study determining school, community, and family characteristics related…

The ability of principals to evaluate special education teachers is an area of concern due to the principals' lack of training or experience in special education. Available research findings clearly indicate the need for training of principals in special education concerns. A statewide survey of principals was conducted to determine their levels…

This paper presents the findings of a study of the effectiveness of collaboration between the Rural Education Research and Service Consortium at Tennessee Technological University and rural schools in its service area. The study uses the instrumentation and research design of the Good Schools Project (GSP) initiated by Kappa Delta Pi in 1984.…

Oral history plays a vital role in accurate preservation of the rural school experience and the actual restoration of some of the country's 212,000 one-room school buildings. Oral histories provide valuable, first-hand information on who taught in and who attended one-room schools, what the curriculum included, what the building looked like, and…

This report examines: (1) the extent to which rural school administrators personally use microcomputers for administrative tasks; (2) whether such use is determined by differences in sex, age, size of school district, and type of administrative assignment; and (3) the kinds of administrative computer applications that are most prevalent. Subjects…

This study examined the influence of a 1-week intensive inservice workshop on the teacher's recognition of contemporary goals of science education and for developing science-technology-society (S-T-S) instructional themes. The inservice participants consisted of a group of 13 experienced teachers from rural school districts whose instructional…

The requirements of No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has presented challenges for schools and districts across the United States such as a new need to focus on test scores and student achievement. While all states, districts, and schools face challenges that require them to adjust the structure and delivery of instruction in their schools,…

Using the Biomedical Sciences Preparatory Program (BioPrep) for illustration, this paper discusses an approach to educational improvement through the development of curriculum that emphasizes experiential learning and the involvement of students in real-life problems. Opening sections describe BioPrep, a program designed to prepare rural high…

Flexibility and change have characterized the 3-year history of the English curriculum-enrichment component of the Biomedical Sciences Preparatory Program (BioPrep)--a program that stresses science for rural high school students but includes the importance of writing and communication skills. In the program's first year the curriculum team set out…

The Village College is a uniquely English institution, yet it may be a viable model for rural education in some parts of the United States as well. If so, four adaptations seem paramount: attitudinal restructuring, institutionalization of adult and community education, a demography capable of supporting the effort, and a new model of educational…

This study compared the effects of cooperative learning groups to traditional instruction in remediating students' misconceptions about temperature. Students from grades 3, 4, and 5 in two rural elementary schools participated in the study. Students completed a pretest, a cognitive conflict laboratory activity and a posttest that measured…

In order to investigate the attitudes of Kansas teachers and principals toward rural and small school libraries, a sample of 400 schools with an enrollment of less than 600 was surveyed. Three copies of a 20-item questionnaire were sent to the principal of each identified school; principals completed one copy and selected two teachers to fill out…