This article draws on focus group conversations with black female college students attending a small, liberal arts institution in Kentucky. Based primarily on group interviews and discussions, as well as observations and analysis--a theoretical domain (referred to throughout the article as "Fabulachia") emerged as a site-specific outcome…

The low educational achievement of our poorest youth is fundamentally a political problem. Against a background of interconnected gaps in educational achievement, health and wealth, and political participation, this paper calls for a liberatory educational praxis that disrupts these reinforcing inequalities. This is a critical literacy grounded in…

Experiences presented in this article suggest that the extension of U.S. citizenship or permanent residency to a foreign-born African American plays out itself as a product of an unequal relationship between the dominant American (White & Black) citizens and the subordinated, subjugated, colonized, and racialized foreign born African…

To promote math and science, this author designed an activity to show students that biomedical fields are within their reach. The activity has three distinct goals: (1) To introduce the field of biomedical engineering to students and encourage them in these career pursuits; (2) To give them hands-on experience conducting a biomechanical test; and…

In this article, the author describes her experience of teaching Mandarin Chinese at Stopher Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky. Through growing and learning with her students, the author has become a firm believer in the importance of early childhood language acquisition and a passionate advocate for world language education.

The Answers in Genesis Creation Museum opened in May of 2007. During the opening day, a loosely affiliated group of scientists joined in a Rally for Reason as they termed it to protest the museum's potential effect on science in the United States. This paper discusses ethnographic data collected before and during the rally. Scientist narratives…

Context: Decades of behavioral research suggest that awareness of health threats is a necessary precursor to engage in health promotion and disease prevention, findings that can be extended to the community level. Purpose: We sought to better understand local perspectives on the main health concerns of rural Appalachian communities in order to…

In this article, the author explores what a sense of place is and how various authors convey that in their work. She states that writers imbue their work with a sense of place through longing and distance from that place, distilled through imagination. "Could Harper Lee have created Maycomb, Alabama on the page without leaving the South and…

Discusses an oral history project designed to make the acquisition of writing skills more palatable to students and the consequences the project had on the author's view of her own education and teaching, her students, and her community. (JOW)

Time and modern education caught up with the nine pupils of Daniel's Creek Elementary School, one of the last remaining one-room schoolhouses in Kentucky. The school was closed at the end of the 1986-87 school year by the county school board, after much opposition from a citizen's group. (JMM)

Fenton Johnson, an award-winning writer living in San Francisco, reflects on growing up in a large Catholic family in Appalachian Kentucky and the stigma associated with being gay. His latest novel, "Scissors, Papers, Rock," relates the story of a young man leaving the gay urban culture of San Francisco to return to the straight rural…

Describes the beginnings of the Foxfire instructional approach; its spread in eastern Kentucky, supported by the Eastern Kentucky Teachers Network; and its special relevance for rural and Appalachian children. Includes comments by teachers and students about their educational experiences and class projects. (SV)

Andy Garrison, an award-winning independent filmmaker, discusses his association with the Dayton (OH) Community Media Workshop and with Appalshop, the eastern Kentucky media arts center. His interests lie in making films that suggest political or social statements as evidenced in his most recent films, Fat Monroe and Night Shift, which depict…

This article reflects on her experiences as a middle school counselor in Kentucky. It relates that counselors have been called upon to address problems of middle school students, including substance abuse. It offers an overview of the advantages of the American School Counselor Association's National Standards, such as its provision of legitimacy…

Five-and-a-half years ago, against the advice of his wife and his academic colleagues, Samuel C. Stringfield stepped out of his ivory tower. The then-50-year-old education researcher, a nationally known expert on school improvement, became a member of the Baltimore city school board. Until the time came when he left the board and the Center for…