The author interviewed Dr. Carolyn Callahan, an eminent scholar in gifted education. The interview focused on Dr. Callahan's work on implementing gifted program in rural areas, and illustrated her suggestions for teachers, researchers, and parents on how to advocate for gifted students.

This article argues that whilst there have been substantial advancements in the ways in which learning is conceptualised, theoretical understandings of assessment, and practices that contribute to meaningful statements of learners' achievements, have not mirrored these changes in certain learning contexts. The authors challenge contemporary…

New technology is providing increased educational opportunities for students through utilizing a variety of distance learning systems (DLS). In an interview, the assistant superintendent of rural Beth Center School District, Pennsylvania, describes the use of DLS in the district. (21 references) (MLF)

Because of their visibility at the center stage of community life, small-town superintendents have a greater opportunity to act as participatory managers and instructional leaders. This paper reports the results of surveys with 25 small-town school superintendents to discover rural/urban differences, work patterns, and exemplary practices in…

Interviews with 20 high school students in rural upstate New York reveal that students perceived the rural community as offering a sense of safety and belonging while taking away personal privacy and fostering prejudices. Adult interactions perceived as important included community support for the school and adolescent activities and interpersonal…

Motivated in part by impending consolidation, a Chapter I reading teacher in an economically depressed rural community asked her middle-school students (n=30) to interview one person who had attended a community school in the past. Questions centered around school buildings, teachers, classes, and special activities. The students read the…

An interview with Susan Loucks-Horsley, director of professional development at the National Research Council's Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education, explores the importance of good teachers, deficiencies in professional development, rural problems, the importance of high academic standards, how the newer standards differ…

In this video, former students and teachers recall their experiences in rural one-room schools in various regions. Just getting to school involved some hardship; anecdotes include experiences of walking, riding horses, driving snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicles, and canoeing to school. Students, teachers, and community members developed a…

Small town school boards are made up of conscientious, hardworking, and caring citizens who face arduous economic challenges and difficult educational dilemmas. The changing economy of small towns has led to fewer professionals and business owners participating in boards of education, a rift between educators who are bureaucrats and board members…

A 5-year study of one-teacher schools was conducted by a single researcher in the remote North West Region of New South Wales, Australia. A personal narrative discusses problems of longitudinal research, peculiarities of gathering data in the chosen region, the close relationship of these isolated schools and their communities, and problems and…

Jack Shelton, teacher, minister, and community builder, describes the benefits of education that is active, relevant, and involved in the community. As coordinator of a cooperative of 29 small rural Alabama schools that enables teachers to implement experiential educational approaches rooted in community study and service, he discusses the…

The evaluation of the Iditarod Area School District small high schools program provided useful information for future program development. The 1978 program for 87 students in 9 scattered schools included: student travel within Alaska and in the lower 48 states; student travel within the district for mini-courses and a student congress; and the…