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…

Profiles Margery Jacoby, a typical teacher at the turn of the century in western frontier, who secured a teaching certificate by examination at 15, took summer college courses, and was elected county superintendent at 23. Discusses women's access to higher education and administrative positions in the frontier west, teaching conditions, and…

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…

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…

Montana developed an alternative certification program for special educators in response to severe personnel shortages in rural schools. Program strengths include 2 years of mentoring and flexibility in delivery that allows participants to earn certification while working. Evaluation results are presented along with suggested improvements, which…

This "special focus" journal issue consists of 13 individual articles on the theme of rural family programs relating to school, health services, church, and other institutions. It includes: (1) "Towards a Rural Family Policy" (Judith K. Chynoweth and Michael D. Campbell); (2) "Montana: Council for Families Collaborates for…

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…

As a final report of a survey about manpower potential of the Crow Indian Reservation of Montana, this report gives a description of population characteristics, educational achievement, potential labor force, available skills of the labor force, and present employment conditions of the worker population on the reservation. The report also includes…

In response to a shortage of special education teachers in Montana, a pilot emergency endorsement program (Office of Public Instruction Special Education Endorsement Project) was initiated in 1987. During 1988-97, the program enrolled 110 students, all of whom were simultaneously employed as teachers. Of these, 71 completed the program and…

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…

To restructure and strengthen special education services, Montana has supported growth of its Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) Council at the state level and has initiated councils in its five special-education regions. Montana's organizational structure for CSPD and the systems approach used for state and regional strategic…

Questionnaires completed by 374 teachers were used to determine differences in the instructional and noninstructional responsibilities of elementary teachers in very small, small, and medium school districts in Montana. Questions about instructional duties related to number of courses and grade levels taught, pupil/teacher ratio, teacher role in…

The teacher education program at Western Montana College helps preservice teachers understand how the local context of the rural school and its community impacts student learning and the teacher's role. Coursework and multiple field experiences help preservice teachers identify their own cultural background and give them experience in teaching…

The Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space held a hearing in Billings, Montana, on rural America's access to the National Information Infrastructure (NII) and uses of NII in the provision of rural education and services. An Assistant Secretary of Commerce discussed the development of the Internet, problems in rural access to the…