Principals from small and rural elementary, middle, and high schools in Texas participated in a 3-year study of the role of the school counselor and the extent of collaborative efforts between counselors and principals. Principals reported a strong dependence on the assistance their counselors provided, often crediting them with assuming the…

A survey of 482 rural Texas superintendents examined their attitudes toward inclusion as a method of serving students with special needs. Superintendents were uncertain whether inclusion is the best method for serving special needs children and were more involved in planning for inclusion than in implementing it. Recommends actions rural…

A 1993 study explored the relationships among literacy, drug/alcohol misuse, victimization, and economic hardship in rural central Texas schools, using survey instruments and regression techniques. The association between violence and youth's academic performance in rural schools may be mediated by economic influences and magnified by local drug…

This newsletter focuses on the importance of reading and writing skills in all educational and career pathways. It includes a variety of strategies for integrating reading and writing skills across the curriculum--in academic, career/technical and fine arts courses--in ways that improve student achievement in reading and writing and in the content…

The effectiveness of the Reading Recovery Program, a literacy intervention for at-risk first-grade students, as it was implemented in 1995-96 in a small rural school district in Texas was studied. Reading Recovery consists of daily individual literacy tutoring sessions taught by a specially trained teacher, and emphasizes active engagement of the…

This report is based on an almost 5-year continual study of selected collaboratives engaged in education reform and improvement with a focus on science, math, and technology in schools serving K-12 students in rural America. This version of the final report of the study is primarily intended for use by educators, decision makers, and others who…

This paper reports preliminary results of two models of school reform initiated in Texas during the summer of 1997. The Texas Accelerated Schools Model began with an intense 5-day training of school teams from schools that had completed a "buy-in" process, along with their external coach, The Schoolwide Planning Summer Institutes began…

Surveys of 8th and 10th graders regarding carrying weapons to school and associated risk factors compared those who carried guns with those who did not. Results found an enormous increase in guns at school over seven years. Most students had been crime victims and carried guns out of fear or anger. (SM)

Job satisfaction and its components were investigated among 156 teachers in 15 of the smallest school districts in the Texas panhandle. The districts were randomly selected from all panhandle districts having an average daily attendance of 200 students or less. Respondents completed a 28-item modified version of the Community Attitudes Toward…

This book describes the teaching experiences of Stella Gipson Polk, who taught in one-room schools in rural Texas. She was 16 at the time she took her first teaching job in 1918. After high school graduation, she had intended to enter a 4-year college or university. However, World War I left numerous schools without teachers as many were called…

The quality of education received by children in the southern states will be greatly impacted by technological change, which will present educators with both unprecedented opportunities and substantial risks. As the four model programs described in this paper illustrate, advances in telecommunications and computer hardware and software can be used…

This document contains six papers. The first paper discusses the creation and operation of the Gulf Coast Intercollegiate Conference, a six-college consortium designed to promote competitions, festivals, and other forms of academic and recreational interaction for the students of the member institutions. The second paper reports the results of a…

Parents of elementary students in rural Texas completed surveys about their attitudes toward and knowledge of comprehensive school health education. Results indicated parents widely supported health education, with alcohol, drugs, nutrition, and first aid being the topics they considered most important. (Author/SM)

This qualitative study examines beliefs and values of leaders in two "turnaround" high schools in high-poverty rural areas, one serving Mexican-American students in Texas, the other serving African-American students in Alabama. Four common beliefs emerged, emphasizing the value of: challenging the myth; demonstrating courage; creating a…

This article describes the rise, diminution, and reorganization of East Texas Oilfield schools which was defined by the socio-economic conditions of the oil era, from the mid-nineteenth century until the third quarter of the twentieth century. Citizens of East Texas seized the opportunity at the time of oil discovery to provide superior school…