This report describes factors distinguishing rural families with special-needs children and their communities from those in non-rural settings. Rural communities have distinct environments and unique strengths and weaknesses, differing even among themselves. A diversity among rural lifestyles, values, resources, and other socio-cultural factors…

Education service requirements mandated by Public Law 94-142 and Section 504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act emphasize the need for interorganizational relationships in rural schools. A survey of 43 special education cooperatives and 32 districts in 17 states indicates that by the 1979-80 academic year 97% had developed interagency…

A review of five studies by the National Rural Project determined the impact of educational collaboratives on rural special education, including types of educational collaboratives, variations within collaborative structures, benefits of collaboratives for rural special education, problems related to regional service delivery structures, and…