This is a report of a study of classroom assignments as perceived by seniors in four rural and smalltown high schools in eastern Kentucky. However, the approach taken in the study could be useful in the appraisal of programs in any school. The study hypothesized that (1) the learning content is experience, and a given experience is related to the…

Using data from an ethnographic study of the use of metaphors by rural teachers, this paper explores how rural teachers experience a sense of place, asking if they actively craft their own metaphors of schooling and examining the potential of metaphors of place to contribute to more substantive and reflective policy making for rural schools. (SM)

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)

This document provides educational researchers with the locale type for every public school in Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, and Tennessee as of 1995-96. The classification system used to assign locale types was developed by Frank H. Johnson and had been adopted by the National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Public…

Although the principal is critical for the success of the school and the school district, many school districts lack a structured and systematic means for identifying and selecting principals. This paper presents a collaborative model for principal selection, which is based on a valid job description, advertisement of the position, interview…

The product of a 1972 Dental Health Branch contract with the U.S. Public Health Service, this manual is designed to aid in the development of school fluoridation programs and presents: background information on general concepts relating to the action of fluoride on teeth; discussions dealing with community and school fluoridation studies; and the…

This paper describes the Kentucky Department of Education's (KDE's) multi-faceted approach to professional development and provides evidence for its impact on schools' achievement of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) goals. Data are drawn from the exemplary case study component of a larger research project. Many Kentucky school districts…

Describes the revitalization of Evarts High School in a poverty-stricken area of rural Kentucky. Reforms included (1) adding 120 electives to the curriculum; (2) beginning a school news service; (3) producing a weekly video program aired on cable television; and (4) offering privilege cards for attendance, achievement, and participation in…

At Owsley County Elementary School (Booneville, Kentucky), the number of parent and community volunteers has doubled over the past 5 years. The school employs a full-time coordinator of parent involvement, has a parent center, and reaches out to the wider community with a monthly newsletter delivered to every county household. Benefits of parent…

This study identified common characteristics in six "good" secondary schools in the rural Appalachian regions of Kentucky and Tennessee. Three schools from each state were selected for study based on nominations by Chief State School Officers and local superintendents and ratings based on statistical information about the schools. Two…

Perceived educational strengths and weaknesses of Appalachian schools are examined as indicators of school effectiveness in this study, which is based on the formula that the expectations people have of schools minus the perceptions of how those expectations are met equals a dissonance factor. The School Effectiveness Inventory (SEI), which…

Besides examining the strength of sex-role stereotyping in the sixth grade concept of vocational opportunities, conclusions are presented on the effectiveness of current career awareness programs. (KR)

This report focuses on the noteworthy achievement and the successful practices of 12 rural schools in the southern region that are members of the "High Schools That Work" (HSTW) school improvement network. Although these schools enroll high percentages of minority and/or impoverished students, they have managed to outperform rural…

Good questions, effectively delivered are a key feature of learning and teaching. QUILT is a research-based, field-tested professional development program designed to assist teachers in developing and implementing effective questioning skills to facilitate student learning. The QUILT framework presents classroom questioning as a five-stage…