Rural school consolidation in Iowa in the early 20th century was not simply an attempt at educational reform, but was also an attempt to transform the rural social geography of the region. Since consolidation of corporate power had resulted in economic progress in the cities, it was thought that re-centering rural life around country towns could…

Political organization is an alternative to the so-called inevitability of losing one's rural school or one's small community; People United for Rural Education (P.U.R.E.), organized to promote the survival of rural schools and the concept of rural as a credible way of life, has been an effective political organization. The reversal of urban…

Eleven Iowa towns in 11 counties and 11 Area Education Agencies (AEAs), having both elementary and high schools in 1960, were chosen via a rural-urban continuum to ascertain evidence of creativity in providing community services after losing the high school between 1960 and 1980. The study compared: community services in 1955-56 and 1980-81 (a…