Reviews DeYoung's book, which depicts the social life of a small rural school and its community, and the particular social, political, and economic circumstances that led to the school's closure. Suggests that the book contains much useful material for those facing a consolidation battle, but that it omits important "instrumental"…

The strategy for attaining the objectives of the Appalachia Preschool Education Program was the development of a child-centered, home-oriented program to be delivered by means of television broadcasts, home visitation, mobile classrooms, and other media. It involved building a curriculum based on behavioral objectives and preparing materials and…

Uses data from 1985 and 1988 surveys of 48 rural West Virginia school districts to assess changes in patterns of personnel deployment and program implementation related to students with severe disabilities. Examines staff ratios, certification issues, teacher recruitment and retention problems, service delivery, and service configurations.…

Summarizes and critiques West Virginia educational reforms during the past decade, highlighting the state's rural character, a brief history of the reform catalyst (Pauley v. Bailey), recent reform activity, and some cautiously optimistic predictions. The state's 1982 Master Plan for education has been replaced by Policy 2000, whose six goals…

West Virginia shares with the rest of the nation a common sense brand of human capital theory that sees improved education as the corrective for unemployment and economic decline. Early and continuing intervention for less advantaged students is acquiring the status of a favored educational and long-term economic development tool. This study…

This report examines career development approaches and practices implemented at six West Virginia school-to-work (STW) sites. The sites were the original local partnerships funded by the state's federal STW implementation grant in 1996. Site visits gathered information needed for development of a comprehensive career development self-assessment…

Discusses efforts over the past 25 years to formalize the role of West Virginia's community colleges in the context of the state's rural character and low college graduation rates. Describes a reorganization following a 1987 study by the Carnegie Foundation and state legislation designed to fine tune the colleges' mission. (10 citations) (AJL)

A graduate course on curriculum and strategies for teaching gifted students was delivered by satellite to three university sites in West Virginia. Telecourse design and procedures, student enrollment, course evaluation, and suggestions for course planning and institutional cooperation are discussed. (Author/SV)

Describes use in Appalachia of "Writing to Read," IBM-developed computer-assisted phonetic literacy program for first graders. Describes program's premise, history, and technology. Program uses phonetics, emphasizing student expression over spelling and punctuation. Describes establishment and use of literacy laboratories in West…

This annotated bibliography covers 170 selected journal articles, books, federal and state government publications, and Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) documents containing information about the mission, function, and organization of regional educational laboratories or relating to socioeconomic and educational situations in the…

The rural economy has performed badly during the 1980s. While the recession of the early 1980s was responsible for much of the trouble, the slow rural recovery demonstrates the fundamental hurdles facing the rural economy. Central among these are economic disadvantages, including remote locations isolating rural producers from their markets, low…

Teachers, psychologists, medical personnel, and parents need to work together with a common base of knowledge to provide appropriate services to children with attention deficit disorder (ADD). The history of ADD symptoms begins in the late 19th century but the term ADD was not coined until 1980. Since that time, definitions and terms have…

Examination of demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural factors in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, the four states served by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL), shows low student population density, endemic poverty, low educational attainment, and a population reluctant to seek outside help. This report reviews the…

The 10 papers presented in this report examine various aspects of rural bookmobile projects in the United States. The objectives of this first bookmobile conference were to offer (1) encouragement to bookmobile workers; (2) information for improving their services; (3) new data for subjective analysis of services; and (4) assistance in developing…

Although there are many sources of information about "effective schools" programs, those that specifically address the needs of rural areas are often overlooked. This document offers a collection of program descriptions to help educators determine programs and practices that appear to be effective in rural and small schools. Program…