Analyzes interview findings related to the experiences of a teacher in a one-room school in rural Australia during 1937-39. Describes his required three-year appointment to a rural school, the school setting, teacher responsibilities, student characteristics, curriculum, and departmental inspections that involved evaluation of children's academic…

The Isolated Schools' Project offers final-year preservice teachers the opportunity to experience teaching in a nonevaluated situation in a rural or remote part of Queensland (Australia). Two student teachers describe their three-week experiences in isolated one-room schools. (SV)

This paper reports a study of curriculum and teaching methods in 10 Old Order Mennonite one-room schools in Pennsylvania. It provides a review of the historical background and cultural characteristics of the Old Order Mennonites. The one-room schools examined in the study are similar in structure and instruction to U.S. public one-room schools of…

Many schools are trying to reconnect elements of schooling that have grown apart since one-room schoolhouse days. This article explores alternatives to tracking and specialized curricula, including instructional alignment, criterion-referenced tests, schoolwide instructional strategies (cooperative learning and computer-assisted instruction),…

To compensate for disadvantages of traditional rural schools, Colombia's Escuela Nueva (New School) movement offers solutions such as self-instruction guides geared to aspects of daily life and flexible school schedules. Teacher training that encourages student and community involvement is a key element. Escuela Nueva successes have led to its…

Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay is actually a group of three islands: Ewell, Rhodes Point, and Tylerton. Dwindling enrollment jeopardizes the community's two schools that contain grades one through seven. The school board believes they can give the sixth and seventh graders at Ewell and Tylerton a better education on the mainland. (MLF)

A final-year student teacher from the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) describes her student teaching experiences in a one-room school in the isolated town of Birdsville, focusing on the harsh natural environment, the demands of a multiage classroom, and positive attributes of the small school and community involvement. (SV)

A final-year student teacher from the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) describes her student teaching experiences at Gunpowder State School, an isolated one-room school in central Queensland, focusing on techniques for managing the multiage classroom and teacher-community relationships. (SV)

The Old Order Amish, or Mennonites, are a religious sect that represents both a traditional and changing culture. Their conservatism is evidenced in their rural way of life, large families of 8 to 12 children, use of horse drawn farm machinery and transportation, nonuse of electricity, and uniformity of dress. The Old Order Amish also present a…

Details the history of Big Laurel, West Virginia from 1918-1941, 1941-1965, and 1965-1983, noting the effects on education of events in all three periods. Describes the opening, closing, consolidation, and reopening of community schools, and the construction, development, philosophy, and curriculum of the new Big Laurel School. (SB)

Two-thirds of Montana's school districts are rural, and most students attend schools with enrollments under 300. Such recent trends as peer tutoring, multigrade classrooms, and project-based learning have always been practiced in these small schools. One small community's successful effort to save its school, classroom practices in one-room…

Information technology offers advantages to small rural schools: access to courses not locally available, opportunities for collaborative work with other schools, and access to professional development courses. Federal money can help disadvantaged rural schools afford the technology, but the teacher must integrate good practices with technology to…

Discusses the origins, lifestyle, and education of the Amish and introduces three papers concerning Amish educational practices. The first article presents observations of a newly appointed Amish teacher. The two remaining articles discuss educationally relevant insights involving the challenges that health-care personnel face in relating to the…

In this collection, nine master teachers with extensive experience in small, rural Alaska schools describe classroom management techniques that have proven effective in their multigraded classrooms. Over half the document consists of one paper, the last in the volume, entitled "More like a School Family than Just a Teacher and His or Her…

Wyoming's funding programs for public education that relate to the issues of sparsity and the state's attempt to provide equal educational opportunity are reviewed. School district problems that relate to the issue of sparsity are also discussed. School district size in Wyoming ranges from the smallest district, by area, of 186 square miles to the…