Small schools (with enrollments of 300 or less) are being rediscovered as models for effective schools. Currently 26.9% of America's school systems enroll over 500,000 students in more than 26,000 small schools staffed by 50,000 teachers. Small schools have pioneered many educational "innovations": non-graded classrooms, individualized…

Educators are under increasing pressure from policymakers and the public to demonstrate that educational resources are used in appropriate ways. This demand, coupled with an environment of increased standards and shrinking budgets, is a major challenge to rural, small, and low-income schools. This digest reviews contemporary research on resource…

This digest examines the practical significance for rural communities of the emerging national information infrastructure, highlights some potential pitfalls, and draws connections to rural education. During the 1980s, computers and computer networks became increasingly commonplace, and in the early 1990s, the Internet and World Wide Web emerged…

This yearbook of the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science (AETS) is designed to give a perspective on rural science education. It is presented in a sequence which leads from the definition and philosophy of rural science education, to the status of rural science education, research implications, the integration of science within…

The National Commission on Excellence in Education has challenged educators across the nation to drastically change the course of education during the 1980s. While rural educators share the desire to provide excellence in education, the Commission and the United States Department of Education must recognize the unique characteristics of rural…

This ERIC digest presents an overview of small-scale schooling in an international context; examines demographic data, staffing problems, and incentives used in other nations; and points out the distinctive characteristics and unique value and potential of small schools in both industrialized and developing nations. Rural school populations remain…

This book develops a framework to help policymakers and policy analysts understand and judge policy options, so they can construct alternatives to the reorganization of rural, small school districts. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the book by stating the objectives and providing working definitions for "school district reorganization" and…

This book aims to help parents, community members, and educators find resources, design school options, and take action together to improve small rural schools in ways that meet community and student needs. Chapter 1 discusses the virtues of smallness, outlines basic assumptions about the role and nature of good education, examines the…

Rural schools may have an advantage over urban schools in science teaching if sciences are perceived as means of exploring our surroundings, are presented as many viewpoints of one overall picture, and are taught in a form that deals with human situations. Collaboratively taught, rural science curricula can include study of agricultural ecology,…