The basic theme of this yearbook, "The Role of the Schools in the Improvement of Community Life," is open to a variety of interpretations. Many factors determine what role the schools will play in a particular country or area, and consequently, what part they may have in community improvement programs. Among the factors are the history…

To most settlers in rural North Dakota, the community was the universe, and the rural school served as a community center. The Christmas program was a universal favorite in rural schools, but it was only one of several programs for the public. Local customs, ethnic backgrounds, and a particular teacher's fondness for a holiday or season gave…

Data from 1961, 1971, and 1973 surveys of households and community "knowledgeables" focused on the subjective assesssments of the quality of life (QOL) of residents of Harlan, Perry, Whitley, and Wolfe counties in Eastern Kentucky, and assessed policy implications. Overall, residents assessed their counties favorably. They rated wages…

According to Federal land appraisals, the land surrounding the Pineville community in Delaware County, Oklahoma, was "unfit for any use," but to the Cherokee who lived there it was a land of plenty. In 1875 Cherokee families constructed a log meeting house, which served first as a church and became a school in 1893. The 1880 Cherokee Census…

Both economically and socially, Iowa farm women played important roles in supporting and maintaining the rural population during the 1930s. They continued their patterns of production for consumption and for income, and during the Depression this production constituted a larger and more significant part of the household economy. Women kept large…

China's "minban" (people-managed) schooling was an important instrument for delivering educational and political values to poor areas during Mao's era. Despite national policy aimed at eliminating poorly-qualified minban teachers by 2000, rural communities have been reluctant to dismiss such teachers, given the rural teacher shortage and…

This illustrated book chronicles the history of the one-room school in the Midwest and its vital influence on American education from the pioneer era through consolidation after World War II. The Midwest's one-room schools were the most democratic in the nation. Located in small independent school districts, they were sustained with the barest of…

In the early 1920s, the small Appalachian community of Damascus, Virginia, used private subscriptions and volunteer labor to build a 15-classroom school made of rocks from a nearby river and chestnut wood from nearby forests. The school building's history, uses for various community activities, and current condition are described. (SV)

Historically, participation in school affairs gave rural people a working knowledge of how democracy functioned. In the late 19th century, power shifted from the voice of the many to the voice of a few, as "expert" opinion increasingly influenced state legislators, governors, and national political leaders. The push to consolidate…

Chinese "people-managed schools" began in the 1940s as popular voluntary village schools providing flexible relevant education to rural peasants, but are regarded today as low status and low quality. This change reflects the Chinese Communist Party's incremental move away from both decentralized decision making and populist education to…

Presenting information drawn primarily from interviews and visits to abandoned, operating, and restored country schools in Nebraska, this report is part of the Country School Legacy Project, intended to study the role rural schools played in the history of the frontier and to locate and preserve information related to country schools. The report…

As part of an eight-state research effort to locate and preserve information related to country schools, this report examines western South Dakota's country schools as historic sites, country schools as community centers, teachers (their roles, rules, and restrictions), school curriculum, education for Sioux Indians, and country schools today.…

The history of rural education in northwestern Wyoming and the accompanying bibliography of unpublished manuscripts, periodicals, school records, and oral histories comprise part of an eight-state research effort, Country School Legacy, to study the role rural schools have played in the history of the frontier and to locate and preserve…

In all States of the Union having a large rural population, efforts are made to adjust the work of the country schools to the needs of country life. There is a widespread feeling that the schools must become a more important factor in country life than they have been and contribute more toward the solution of its problems. To that end normal…

The discovery and use of community resources are necessary if the school is to assume the role of social agent and if the curriculum is to bring about desirable changes in the student and the community. This 1939 Yearbook sought to provide rural teachers with a philosophy concerning the school-community relationship and examples of programs…