This paper comparatively examines residents' attitudes toward the tourism economy across eight rural counties at varying tourism development stages within the Monongahela National Forest region, West Virginia. Nine hypotheses related to attitudes toward sustainable tourism, perceptions of regional collaboration, and perceived strengths,…

Economic changes and the machinations of the treadmill of production have dramatically reduced the number of jobs provided by extractive industries, such as mining and timber, in the United States and other affluent nations in the post-World War II era. As the importance of these industries to national, regional, and local economies wanes,…

Examines the 1974 case of fundamentalist censorship in Kanawha County, West Virginia, and responds to fundamentalist's objections to the disputed books. Suggests that the solution to censorship may lead to the development of "spiritual" education, an education of expanded consciousness based on pluralism. (MM)

The School Community Council of the Fort Gay-Thompson area (West Virginia), organized in May 1971, requested a study in order to look at its past, assess present needs, and plan for the future. The study of the Fort Gay-Thompson School Attendance Area was designed to: (1) describe the area; (2) analyze the characteristics of the people living…

The unrepresentativeness of school policy discussions, religious fundamentalism, and the local opinion that schools should uphold and inculcate traditional values of home and community are emphasized as the reasons for the West Virginia textbook controversy. (DE)

The 1981 Monongalia (West Virginia) Area Survey (MAS) polled 485 townspeople and 220 students about certain attitudes and economic and social conditions in an area likely to be the focus of coal-based energy developments. Townspeople were predominately middle-aged, had a high prevalence of home-ownership, and had lived in the area for a relatively…

The final report of the West Virginia Commission on Mental Retardation reports of the planning and implementation of programs for the mentally handicapped in the state. Described are specific accomplishments since the Commission was created in 1964 to help governmental agencies and civic groups in preparing programs. Progress in the following…

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 shifts decision-making authority for funding of local job training programs from the federal government to state and local boards, which will need local decision-making tools to inform policy. One such tool is a method proposed by S. Goetz and D. Debertin to estimate demand for educational attainment at the…

The major objective of this pilot survey was to pretest questions for use in the development and design of a larger, more definitive survey of residents of rural communities in Appalachia, planned for the spring of 1981, and to obtain preliminary descriptive data about the area's residents. Telephone interviews covered respondents' family…

Describes West Virginia's Community Work Experience Program, a work requirement program for public assistance recipients. Examines issues workfare raised in a rural context, explains why West Virginia avoided the controversy usually associated with such programs, and notes benefits including improved images for welfare workers, recipients, and…

Details the history of Big Laurel, West Virginia from 1918-1941, 1941-1965, and 1965-1983, noting the effects on education of events in all three periods. Describes the opening, closing, consolidation, and reopening of community schools, and the construction, development, philosophy, and curriculum of the new Big Laurel School. (SB)

Study objectives were to determine the levels of satisfaction with selected community services in an 11-county area of northern West Virginia (3 representative sites) and to compare these levels to those of 12 other selected sites in the non-metropolitan northeastern United States. A total of 2,141 questionnaires was completed, 295 of which came…

Based on the premise that ecological and health problems, and human responses to these problems, are directly related to community social and economic conditions, this study examined differences in health, housing, and human concerns across socioeconomically defined neighborhoods in West Virginia. Counties were grouped into three environmental…

The Kanawha County textbook controversy of 1974 sparked profound changes in the American political landscape and American education. The roots of this controversy go back to the 1960's, when drug use, women's liberation, violence, and sex education convinced conservatives that America was in moral decline. Parents in Kanawha County fingered school…

AEL works with state educational entities to help schools become higher-performing learning communities. AEL's current partnership with Lincoln County (West Virginia) began about 6 months after the state board of education assumed administrative control of the county school system, citing major deficiencies in the system. AEL provided facilitative…