Compares Federal court-ordered school desegregation plans in urban and rural Tennessee school districts. Indicates that approaches differed with varying district characteristics. Suggests that community responses to plans were influenced by such factors as racial composition; customs; leaders' attitudes; environmental and economic conditions; and…

A partnership between a historically black urban college and a rural university provides urban-rural early field experience exchange for preservice teachers, offers joint educational seminars, prepares preservice teachers for the National Teacher Examination, provides technological training, recruits minorities for careers in teaching, and…

Opportunities abound for educational service agencies (ESAs) to assist rural schools districts with implementing the No Child Left Behind Act. Strategies that ESAs could pursue are presented for critical issues in the areas of school-community relationships, school roles in rural development, funding, standard setting, school size, facility…

The Southeast Regional Resource Center serves all of Alaska's 53 school districts, many of them rural. Its itinerant special education personnel deliver services on-site and train teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents to deliver services. Video exchanges, telephone conversations, and Internet communications are used to monitor student progress,…

Rural Kansas schools facing financial problems and demands for more accountability must cooperate to survive. Smoky Hill Education Service Center, representing 45 school districts, provides on-site staff development and online classes for students and staff, maintains a multimedia library, has a cooperative purchasing program, provides…

A rural Oregon school district collaborated with the regional program for deaf children and a college teacher preparation program in deaf education to provide an inclusive education for one deaf child. An outside assessment of the child was the basis of a staff development workshop on appropriate educational strategies for that child. Contains 15…

Since tribal colleges acquired land-grant status in 1994, conversation with established land-grant institutions has focused on how tribal colleges can adapt to the dominant paradigm. In contrast, mainstream universities should adopt culturally aware considerations of holism, sacredness, cultural identity, and cultural viability. This will promote…

Profiles individual projects in six school districts across the country participating in the School-Community Connection initiative funded by the Institute for Responsive Education. These projects focus on school improvement through partnerships among schools, parents, and the community. Rural and urban elementary and secondary schools are…

A high-school English teacher explains how she transformed her listless, "drive-thru" classes into "partnership" classes with highly motivated students eager to demonstrate and evaluate their skills. Students could work at their own best pace so long as the work got done and had acceptable quality. (MLH)

Describes the successful bilingual program of the Ontario School District (Oregon). District strategies include visiting a model school in south Texas, encouraging parent participation, facilitating staff development and recruitment, acknowledging cultural awareness, using student-directed instruction and cooperative learning, maintaining students…

A Nebraska high school art teacher who wanted to change from dictator to facilitator suggested that his class study local barns. Students found an old round barn, involved other classes, and helped found a nonprofit organization that coordinated a successful community-wide restoration effort. (TD)

Braxton County, West Virginia, is a subculture in which the norms and values of local residents are oppositional to state and national objectives for public education. Describes the role of the locally born county superintendent as a cultural change agent, and his strategies for overcoming poor community support and limited financial resources to…

Examines partnerships at Blue Ridge Community College (North Carolina) from the perspective of 12 nonprofit organizations and government agencies located on or adjacent to campus. Discusses factors contributing to the success of partnerships in addressing societal needs and advancing the college's mission, including accessibility, common goals,…

By focusing on advantages inherent in what are typically considered disadvantages for rural schools, 14 rural, southern California school districts cooperated in implementing a successful inquiry-based elementary science program. Isolation and low population density resulted in a stable teaching force familiar with the community, and the area's…

An Idaho community worked together to build a performing arts building on school property. Students from the school, which had been using the Foxfire approach for several years, selected the site, did the surveying, and helped with the timber frame construction. The project fostered a renewed sense of community for a town suffering from declining…