The purpose of this research was to examine the impact that school learning environment has on student achievement from the perspective of the school employees. The research was carried out using a mixed methods approach, evaluating historical data to determine relationships between school learning environment and student achievement in two rural…

Securing attendance is challenging at rural high schools with a high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic states (low-SES) households. Best practices of principals to achieve high annual attendance rates (> 90%) were studied. Interviews were held with principals from 8 of 12 high schools across rural West Virginia that met the…

This study sought to identify differences in the leadership styles of principals in high and low performing West Virginia elementary schools based on teacher perceptions from the Bolman and Deal Leadership Orientation (Other) instrument. The reading/language arts and mathematics index was used to classify high and low performing schools.…

In 2002-2003, 27% (12.5 million) of public school students attended school in communities of fewer than 25,000 and 19% (8.8 million) attended school in smaller communities of fewer than 2,500. In this report, the authors focus on the schools in those smaller communities, the most rural schools in America. They frame the report around 22…

A study of seven high- and low-achieving elementary schools in West Virginia surveyed 1,389 parents, students, principals, teachers, and staff. Among two matched pairs of rural schools, high-achieving schools shared characteristics very different from those of low-achieving schools with equivalent poverty rates. Overall, school programs and…

This dissertation synopsis examines the relationship of school size to the achievement of students of varying levels of socioeconomic status in West Virginia and investigates motives for consolidation in this mostly rural state. To control for varying grade-span configurations, size (of school and district) was defined as enrollment per grade…

School or district size was found to interact with socioeconomic status to influence student achievement in West Virginia; small schools facilitated the achievement of impoverished students, whereas large schools facilitated the achievement of affluent students. Addresses implications for educational policy and future research into effects of…

A study of West Virginia elementary schools examined why similar types of elementary students differ greatly in academic achievement. In the first phase of the study, a comparison of 33 high- and 33 low-achieving elementary schools in West Virginia found that low-achieving schools had 2.5 times more low-income students than high-achieving schools,…

The rural school project of the continental United States consists in educating over 18 million young people between the ages of 5 and 20 who live in small towns and villages, or in the open country. The 300,000 or more schools classified as rural enrolled nearly 12.5 million pupils in 1920, employed 425,00 teachers, supervisors, and principals,…

The initial step in the evaluation of the Fort Gay-Thompson School Community Council's program was to establish baseline data prerequisite to measuring the change in the program's influence. Surveys were made of the typical program phases regarded as germane to evaluation. Thus, data were obtained on: pupils--enrollment trends, achievement levels,…