Community engagement programs offer college students an opportunity to impact youth in rural, low-income communities. While in a rural setting where educational training and support is not abundant, college students learn about struggles that rural, low-income youth face in exploring and attending postsecondary education options. The Alternative…

College Readiness for Rural Youth is an innovative, postsecondary education bridge program that gives youth the opportunity to explore college attainability, admissions, financial aid, and application processes. The initiative aims to support academic success and transition to college for rural youth.

The hypothesis that value orientation is a more important determinant of fertility behavior than social class was examined in this study. Data were obtained from 4 rural high schools in Lawrence County, Ohio. The sample consisted of 500 Protestant, white single students. Dependent variables were youth attitudes toward abortion and Ohio's abortion…

Based on Ghazalah's findings, which indicated that vocational education was an extremely profitable investment for both society and the individual choosing to go into a vocational program, the variables that had an effect on wages and earnings were examined. With the cooperation of a vocational school in a rural Appalachian Ohio community, data…

Violence exposure among rural youths is a significant public health problem, yet little research has been conducted on violence in this setting. This study explored rural youths' direct and indirect experience of violence in the neighborhood, school, and home. The author used hierarchical regression analyses to explore youth violence exposure,…

The upward economic flux of Pike County is having a dramatic impact on the traditional morals and values held by the established community. Drug availability has increased proportionately with improved highway systems, accessibility of money, and increasing numbers of youth with their own cars. Although 75% of the population live in isolated…

The purpose of this study was to compare attitudes of secondary school teachers in 28 Ohio counties (considered by the Appalachian Regional Commission to be a part of Appalachia) with those of teachers in the remaining 60 counties. A questionnaire of 122 items, 94 of which were attitudinal, was used with a random sample of 600 teachers, 300 each…

Among 492 rural Ohio high school students surveyed in 1979, 78.3% had used alcohol at least once and 51.3% had used marijuana at least once, contrasting previous research reporting low substance use among rural youth. Socio-demographic and family variables had only limited utility for understanding drug or alcohol abuse. (SB)

Panel studies examined changes in the educational and occupational aspirations of 191 rural Ohio youth. The 1988 survey questions were similar to those asked in a study conducted 3 years earlier when subjects were 10th and 12th graders. Major findings were: (1) the influence of school personnel on student career and curriculum choices was less…

Crimes against property (vandalism, theft, and burglary) committed by teenagers are increasing at an alarming rate in rural America. The content of this manual aims to reverse this pernicious trend by providing rural Ohio secondary students with preventative education which supplements existing civics and government courses. Hopefully, presenting…

Describes the grades 11-12 joint vocational program at an Ohio vocational school to illustrate the components in an educational matrix designed to meet the needs of all students. Programs include career development, assessment/evaluation, basic skills lab, occupational work adjustment, occupational work experience, and placement and followup. (CT)

This paper examines rural high school students' educational and occupational expectations and their relationships to personal, educational, school, and family characteristics. Questionnaires were distributed to all 10th and 12th graders in four small rural high schools in diverse geographic regions of Ohio. Almost all of the 491 respondents were…

Despite increasing graduation requirements and the limited vocational offerings in rural schools, many rural high school students still enroll in vocational education courses. This study examined factors influencing the decisions of rural Ohio high school students to select vocational education courses. In spring 1988, an interview and…

TO MORE EFFECTIVELY MEET PREPARATORY TRAINING NEEDS IN NONFARM AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS, THE ADJUSTMENTS AND EXTENSIONS NEEDED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND POST-HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULAR PATTERNS OF AGRICULTURAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION WERE IDENTIFIED. COMMITTEE MEETINGS, AREA SEMINARS, AND A NATIONAL CONFERENCE WERE CALLED WHICH SUMMARIZED, INTERPRETED, AND…

A comparative analysis of the findings of three studies involving widely varying ethnic groupings of rural youth was conducted in order to evolve a speculative frame of propositions about religion as a variable attribute of the life situation of rural youth, and to speculate about the possible significance of patterned variability in religious…