In this descriptive and comparative study, we present results highlighting the complexity and scope of the challenges facing rural districts as they navigate the changing demographics of the students and families they serve. Rapid increases in the number and concentration of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students in rural areas…

As part of the Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA) initiative, the Carsey Institute has been investigating broad trends between rural community types, including the education level of residents and their parents. Since 2007, Carsey researchers have conducted over 17,000 telephone surveys with randomly selected adult Americans from…

We explain in this article the need for board training in rural America irrespective of industry or government sector. We discuss how an assessment of training needs has led to the launch of a new project called the National Board Basics Curriculum (NBBC) project. In this project, we have identified four key core competencies that every board…

Each school, district, or state has a unique set of circumstances and obstacles to deal with in implementing a one-to-one laptop program. That is especially true of Denali Borough School District in Alaska. Located in the Alaskan interior, it encompasses Denali National Park (with North America's tallest mountain), covers more than 12,000 square…

Following a letter of transmittal, this document presents the 12th annual report on the introduction of reindeer into Alaska. The document includes commendations for several Lapp and native herders in Education Commissioner W.T. Harris's report-transmittal letter to the Senate. The report by General Agent for Education in Alaska, Sheldon Jackson,…

During the 1969-70 school year, a follow-up program was conducted for participants of the summer 1969 institute on Teaching Alaskan Native Youth. On-site seminars and individual conferences were conducted with 20 teachers and aides (serving in 16 rural Alaskan communities in which the predominant first language is Yupik, Inupik, or Athabascan) to…

Alaska's efforts toward sustainable development include protecting the subsistence lifestyle by involving indigenous people in stakeholder decisions about whaling and fishing quotas and offshore oil drilling; developing rural energy, water, and sewage infrastructures; using telecommunications to bring health care and education to remote areas; and…

The Alaska Family Practice Residency (AFPR) is a graduate medical education training program for family physicians headed for rural and remote practice sites. Located in Anchorage and affiliated with the University of Washington family practice residency network, the program has an integrated curriculum aimed at preparing family physicians to…

This survey examines the impact of reduced timber harvests and mill closures by the U.S. Forest Service on timber-dependent schools and communities in the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. One purpose was to recommend educational programs and services that are necessary to remediate these impacts on children. Between 1990 and 1995,…

The Alaska Consortium for Transition Services (ACTS) is a federally funded project to develop and implement secondary transition planning for rural Alaska students with severe disabilities. Secondary transition is the process of change occurring as students prepare to move from high school to adult life. As rural Alaska's severely disabled…

Describes use of folklore (telling tales, stories, etc.) by school administrators in five rural Alaskan communities as a tool for communicating complex cultural issues. Suggests occupational phenomena as well as cross-cultural ideas are communicated and such communication is important in recruiting and retaining school administrators in such…

Relates some of the challenges involved in teaching English to Yup'ik Eskimos in the rural areas around Bethel, Alaska. Focuses on problems of student attrition, uninformed attitudes of white instructors, and the operations and failings of the delivery system, which employs itinerant field concept coordinators and campus-based instructors. (AYC)

A 3-year project to provide rural Alaska teachers with access to the University of Alaska-Anchorage's Special Education Program used distance education in learning applications as well as in developing a knowledge base. Previous Alaskan distance education programs had been criticized as "second class" compared to traditional on-campus…

This report is an analysis of issues in Alaska's elementary-secondary education system, based on 25 position papers delivered at a Center for Northern Educational Research forum in 1973. The forum arose from the widespread perception of need for educational reorganization and a concern about equal educational opportunities for Native Americans.…

In fiscal year 1983 nearly 1,500 Alaskan children under the age of 6 received Head Start services from a total of 262 staff members--149 of whom were classroom personnel--and 1,473 volunteers. Over 700 Head Start children received medical screening, and more than 100 needed and received medical treatment through Head Start. Over 800 Head Start…