Career Technical Education (CTE) can provide an on-ramp for rural learners to access meaningful, high-wage careers while simultaneously strengthening the talent pipeline to meet regional labor demand. Yet rural learners all too often face an uphill battle when it comes to accessing high-quality CTE. Scarce resources, limited regional employers and…

We explain in this article the need for board training in rural America irrespective of industry or government sector. We discuss how an assessment of training needs has led to the launch of a new project called the National Board Basics Curriculum (NBBC) project. In this project, we have identified four key core competencies that every board…

Not long after Dennis Roseleip received a superintendency appointment in his native state of Montana, the district's entire administrative team departed, leaving him to fill three principalships in the opening months of his new post. The sudden vacancies were not a statement on the choice of Roseleip, then 44, to lead the Cut Bank Public Schools…

Describes the Early Career Support Program (STEP) which uses the Montana Educational Telecommunication Network (METNET) to connect early career teachers in Montana with mentors. Contains 20 references. (DDR)

A teacher study group was formed at Garfield Elementary School (Billings, Montana) to provide opportunities for professional development. Garfield Elementary has a student population of over 400 students, approximately 50 of whom qualify for special education services. The majority of children come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and…

Highlights a rural Montana family's experience with limited availability of special-education personnel and services for their severely disabled son. Suggests ways to improve rural special education services, including a flexible planning process, partnerships with university programs, use of information technology, and support networks. (KS)

Includes "Perspective on Rural Education" (Miller); "You Want Them to Learn What?" (Jones); "Rural Education" (Baker, Burns); "Metnet" (Frick); "Rural Education and Training in Egypt" (Swan, Aly); "Mentors, Youth at Risk, and Rural Education Programs" (Wingenbach); "Designing…

Project Sunrise, a home based parent training model, was designed to serve preschool handicapped children living in rural areas of Montana. Literature was reviewed on when to begin educational intervention, the results of early intervention, the types of intervention most effective, the positive effects of parent education, and the benefits of…

This paper discusses techniques and strategies to improve the effectiveness of distance education delivered via interactive video telecommunication. Advantages and disadvantages of three types of interactive video--telephone linkage, end-to-end fiber optic digital transmission, and satellite broadcasts--are briefly discussed. Prebroadcast…

A University of Montana graduate program used an interdisciplinary approach to train rural special physical educators. Program elements included a basis in the notion of universal excellence, interdisciplinary student recruitment, metacognition training, rural transfer and adaptation strategies, and establishing rural school districts as practicum…

A career development coordinator describes how she implements a mentoring program for students from five rural high schools in Montana. After students identify occupations that they would like to explore and professionals agree to participate, participating students from all five schools are bussed to spend several hours job-shadowing their…

Intermountain Community Learning and Information Centers are the result of work begun in 1977 by Utah State University and are based on use of rural libraries in a new information and education function. Support from the Western Rural Development Center permitted the Cooperative Extension Services, state libraries, and continuing educators from…

Three professional development approaches have shown promise in raising the competency level of early childhood professionals in rural areas. Provider registry systems gather information that provides a foundation for further professional development initiatives and systemic development. Statewide professional development systems designed to serve…

Federal legislation requires that all handicapped children be afforded an appropriate and individualized physical education program. The state education agency of Montana, however, has not assumed this responsibility, and unqualified special education classroom teachers and regular physical education teachers are reluctantly charged by local…

This final report summarizes the activities of TIME (Training in a Manila Envelope), a federally funded project designed to replicate the Child Care plus+ model of inservice training by providing: (1) a course on inclusion directly for child care providers and other early childhood professionals in rural areas across the nation; and (2) training…