From 1945 to 1980, school districts across the United States decreased the number of schools through consolidation. With the advent of geographic software, it is possible to map schools across time and analyze patterns of school openings, closings, and consolidation. In this study, one Southeastern Kentucky district was selected as a pilot for…

This study presents historical data describing the building and consolidating of 1 and 2 room schools in Kentucky from 1914 to 1969. The report consists of 4 sections: (1) brief history, (2) pictures, (3) newspaper clippings, and (4) maps. [Not available in hard copy due to marginal legibility of original document.] (TL)

Time and modern education caught up with the nine pupils of Daniel's Creek Elementary School, one of the last remaining one-room schoolhouses in Kentucky. The school was closed at the end of the 1986-87 school year by the county school board, after much opposition from a citizen's group. (JMM)

Examination of demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural factors in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, the four states served by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL), shows low student population density, endemic poverty, low educational attainment, and a population reluctant to seek outside help. This report reviews the…

Critiques the notion of school district efficiency and applies 1 definition to the performance of all 178 Kentucky districts. Finds that achievement test performance of inefficient districts exceeded that of efficient districts by .20 standard deviation, and that efficiency was related to smallness but not ruralness. Contains 26 references.…

This autobiography relates the early teaching experiences of Kentucky teacher and author Jesse Stuart (1906-1984). Barely 17 years old, he first taught in a one-room, isolated rural school in eastern Kentucky for $60 a month. His 35 barefoot students in the eight grades ranged in age from 5 to 20 years. The students' passion for learning…

This two-part report focuses on progress made by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL) during the first year of a 5-year contract. AEL's mandate is to work with educators in ongoing research and development-based efforts to improve education and educational opportunities in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Part I:…

In a demonstration of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory's (AEL's) Community Partnership for School Improvement model, Hart County (Kentucky) community members and school representatives planned and implemented a school improvement project to increase parents' involvement in their children's education. In May 1988, 203 out of 625 questionnaires…

Basic needs of children and youth which cannot be provided by small rural schools could be realized by combining the resources and pupils of a number of local districts. Four types of organization are presented as possibilities for providing cooperative educational services: (1) autonomous districts with line functions; (2) semi-autonomous…

This article describes work on a new tool to help educators increase parental involvement in their schools using the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC). When the authors set out on their goal in rural Hart County, Kentucky, they discovered that no instrument existed to measure changes in the level of parental involvement. Using…

This paper summarizes arguments surrounding the closing of Hisel School in Jackson County, Kentucky, in an effort to analyze the debate on rural education in Appalachia and how it relates to school-community relationships. Events surrounding closure of the school are summarized, including a two-year period in which a school community volunteer…

The 1965 status of secondary education in 11 southern states is analyzed in terms of school size, personnel, professional qualifications, and working conditions. Financial data relate per pupil expenditures in both rural and urban schools in each state. Information is provided concerning curriculum trends, innovations, and progressive school…