A study to obtain follow-up information on graduates from small Iowa school districts was conducted in 1988 to identify rural youth's "educational pathways" during the first 5 years after high school graduation. The sample of high school graduates was randomly drawn from 11 of 98 rural Iowa school districts with an enrollment fewer than…

Ranking 49th in total employment growth between 1978 and 1986, Iowa actually lost 0.48% of its workforce each year. Income fell 2.2% annually between 1978-86 (10% per annum in the farm industry) and unemployment rates doubled since the mid-1970s. This 1988 study describes the school-to-work transition of a sample of high school graduates, class of…