Much of the Northwest Region (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington) is rural in nature. A characteristic of the extractive economies such as timber, agriculture, mining, and fisheries is that they are generally located in small communities isolated by distances. While schools in these communities face the same challenges as those in…

No Child Left Behind requires that all teachers have a degree in every subject they teach or pass an exam that proves they are "highly qualified" to teach that subject. A story from one Montana town demonstrates how the law is unrealistic for rural and small schools where one teacher may teach many subjects and where teachers are already…

The mission of this study is to identify reasonable standards for the space requirements of a small high school of under 100 students--perhaps even as small as ten--remote both in distance and social structure from the mainstream of the normal American educational system and to identify, at least conceptually, how such space can be used.…

Examines dropout rates in small village high schools. Reports that the shift from boarding schools to small village high schools has dramatically reduced the dropout rates of rural Alaska native students. Suggests related characteristics are small size, personalized atmosphere, sense of community, and individualized instruction. (DHP)

Small, sometimes multi-cultural, rural schools need specialized preservice teacher education programs to prepare teachers. After outlining the classroom, school, and sociocultural characteristics affecting a teacher's success and survival in a rural community, this paper discusses the apparent lack of rural content in teacher preparation programs…

The 14 symposium papers presented in this document provide a diverse historical and personal interpretation of Alaska's educational development. Titles and authors are: "Conflicting Priorities, Conflicting Opinions: Alaskan Development and Sheldon Jackson, Educator" (Ted Hinckley); "Sheldon Jackson and the Constitutionality of the…

The Standard's purpose is to provide design requirements that will improve energy utilization in new State of Alaska owned rural educational facilities ranging in size from 7,000 to 12,000 square feet. The Standard covers exterior envelopes and selection of heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, service water systems, energy…

As a component of the University of Alaska's Cross-Cultural Orientation Program (X-COP), this journal provides a forum for rural Alaska teachers to share ideas and insights. Articles in this issue discuss: (1) the inadequacies of educational research for defining the essence of effective teaching; (2) making the classroom culturally compatible…

This document summarizes a study examining perceptions of supervision by teachers in small, isolated Alaskan schools. The study was conducted to provide information for improving rural teacher supervision, for assisting teacher development, and for improving teacher-supervisor relationships. The study, based on a mail survey that gathered 156…

In this collection, eight master teachers with extensive experience in small, rural Alaska schools describe some of the ways they have adapted instruction to rural Alaskan circumstances. These papers discuss: (1) the characteristics of effective rural teachers; (2) adapting the "Coping!" curriculum for affective education to the cultural…

Teachers for Rural Alaska is a fifth year program leading to secondary teacher certification and focusing on preparation for teaching in small village high schools with predominantly Native populations. Emphasizing a reflective inquiry orientation, the program aims to develop teachers who (1) can identify crucial problems and dilemmas in rural,…

Describes the successful school serving preschool-twelfth grade in St. Mary's Alaska--a small remote Yupik community. Examines the bilingual curriculum, strong community support, and the school's philosophy and goals emphasizing integration of Yupik ways and values and the educational responsibility of the community. (SV)

Alaska has made many attempts to find methods for providing a quality education for students living in rural areas. They include regional schools, boarding dormitories, the Boarding Home Program, area and local high schools, and correspondence study. This booklet discusses the strong and weak points relative to the major financial, social, legal,…

Boarding schools were the only option for rural high school students in Alaska until 1976, when the state began building many, very small, village high schools following a class action law suit. Selective, academic boarding schools continue to be an option. A survey of rural households found community satisfaction and improved student outcomes as…

In this collection, 32 Alaskan principals, retired principals, assistant principals, and principals-to-be share their experiences as administrators and reflect on their feelings about the nature of the work and about schooling issues in Alaska. Nine of the writings were selected from "Totem Tales," the newsletter of Alaska's Association…