This paper discusses "constructions" of school size in West Virginia and Ohio and related issues concerned with school and school district consolidation, and the role of education, politics, and globalization. "School size" is not the same as enrollment; grade span and level are important in understandings of size.…

Principals' support for various approaches to educational planning were examined in rural and suburban schools in Ohio and West Virginia. It was expected that rational approaches to planning would be more prevalent in suburban than rural schools and in a state with more tightly coupled bureaucratic control (West Virginia) than a less tightly…

This digest reviews the concepts of "culture" and "multicultural education" and advocates multicultural education for rural schools. Culture applies to any group with coherent norms and traditions that help members engage the world around them. Multicultural education seeks to create an environment in which students can…

This report provides the first detailed picture of the features of the rural school bus ride. Data were provided by principals in 696 rural elementary schools in Arkansas, Georgia, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Washington--states chosen to represent diversity in region, locale, and ethnic composition. The literature commonly cites 30 minutes as…

Between 1968 and 1991, the number of middle schools in the United States quadrupled from about 2,000 to more than 8,500. A study in four states--Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia--suggests a connection between pursuit of the middle school concept, school closings, and diminished chances for the survival of rural communities. (MLF)

Previous research in California, Alaska, and West Virginia has suggested that school or school district size may influence student achievement indirectly by mediating the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on achievement. The Matthew Project is replicating the key analyses of the West Virginia study in four strategically chosen states: Georgia,…

This report describes the development and evaluation of mathematics activities manuals for grades K-8, correlated with the Tennessee state mathematics curriculum. Seventeen elementary teachers and seven secondary teachers met during January-June 1989 to write draft versions of the manuals and demonstrate activity-based mathematics and…

School or district size was found to interact with socioeconomic status to influence student achievement in West Virginia; small schools facilitated the achievement of impoverished students, whereas large schools facilitated the achievement of affluent students. Addresses implications for educational policy and future research into effects of…

This ERIC digest synthesizes research characterizing the economic climate in which rural schools operate and reports on the traditional strategies used to create greater economic support for rural school districts. The benefits of steady urban economic growth have not been shared, generally, by rural areas; this has led to inadequate financial…

Appalachia Educational Laboratory's Rural Excel program collaborated with the Tennessee Center of Excellence for Science and Mathematics Education and with faculty at 21 local education agencies in rural Tennessee to evaluate implementation of the Tennessee Mathematics Activities Manuals for grades 5-8. The manuals each contain 54-67 activities…

Project REAL (Rural Education Aligned for Learning) aims to improve mathematics and science education in grades 5-8 in five rural Ohio school districts identified as in "academic emergency" or on "academic watch." Program goals are to reform curricula to teach skills and concepts, rather than facts; improve students' math and…

Reviews a book that documents the circumstances surrounding the closure of a small, rural West Virginia high school. The book's strength derives largely from its crossing of disciplinary borders to address social, political, and economic factors that have influenced changing educational values and the trend toward consolidation in rural West…

This report presents selected results of a national study of school districts operating at least one K-12 unit school. Of the 706 districts operating unit schools, 157 districts in 27 states responded to the survey. The majority of respondents (106) were superintendents of one-school districts, that is, districts in which the K-12 unit school was…

This paper explores changes needed in the focus and commitment of educational research to better reflect issues relevant to rural schools and their communities. Historically, educational researchers have focused on national or cosmopolitan concerns in efforts to develop widely applicable procedures for school improvement. However, improving rural…