This paper compares data on the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use by students in grades 8 and 12 across four sizes of communities. Data from the American Drug and Alcohol Survey (ADAS), administered in approximately 250 communities during the 1992-93 and 1993-94 school years, were analyzed for four community sizes: very small (population…

A survey of 16 rural students attending college in Perth, Australia, found that all of them felt disadvantaged because of issues specific to their rural status. These issues were emotional, social, and financial or a combination thereof. The emotional and social concerns were loneliness, making new friends, and learning to adjust to an urban…

Survey of 22 rural Australian youth, aged 12-18 and not attending school or work, found that youth were strongly motivated towards creative, practical, and life skills learning. Describes a model of the phenomenon of "street kids" at the intersection of youth unemployment, homelessness, and truancy. Recommends establishment of pilot…

A study examined the relationship between medical students' background and their attitudes toward being trained or working as doctors in rural areas. Surveys of 97 first-year medical students at an Australian university indicated that students from rural backgrounds were more willing than urban students to be trained and to work in rural areas.…

This study examined whether students could learn counterintuitive science concepts by reading and discussing ideas. Ninth graders read texts, answered questions, then completed control activities or engaged in scaffolded discussions. Students who read expository text and students who participated in scaffolded discussion performed better than…

Examines substance use trends among rural 12th-grade students, 1976-97, based on the national triennial study "Monitoring the Future." Finds that youth from more rural locations generally displayed lower rates of substance use, but as urbanization spread, differences declined. Compares data on farm, rural nonfarm, and small-town youth in both…

Most Americans view small towns and rural areas as ideal places to grow up and raise a family, yet 1990 census data reveal that most rural areas are losing population, particularly the young. Teenagers who live in rural communities are likely to have important insights into this contradiction. Approximately 5,600 students attending 114 rural high…

The Rural Education Advisory Committee, established in 1990 by the New York State Legislative Commission on Rural Resources, was asked to identify and disseminate information on raising the aspirations and increasing educational opportunities for rural students. An examination of effective rural New York school districts led to identification of…

Sixteen graduates of rural high schools were interviewed and asked to describe specific interactions with adults during their high school days that had significantly affected their thoughts about themselves or their future. Brief discussions examine the reasons that teachers have an impact on rural adolescents, what constitutes a "rural"…

The persistent net loss of young people from rural areas has potentially contradictory implications for educational policy. Believing that youth migration to urban areas is inevitable, one school board might feel obligated to prepare students for urban jobs. Another board might view such actions as community suicide and attempt to slow…

This paper examines the relationships between high school curriculum (academic, general, and vocational) and students' occupational and educational aspirations in rural schools. The study was conducted in Ohio and then replicated in Southwest Georgia. In Ohio, 767 predominantly white rural senior students completed a questionnaire and the…

This report presents questionnaires that were used in three phases of a longitudinal study of career aspirations and attainments among low income youth and of their mothers' aspirations for them. The subjects were interviewed in 1969, when they were in the fifth and sixth grades, in 1975, and in 1979. Participants were members of three low income…

The tetrad of subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) that best predicts the WISC-R Full-Scale intelligence quotient (IQ) was determined for 1,589 Appalachian students referred for evaluation in grades 1-4, 5-8, and 9-10. The sample was divided into three groups. Students in grades 1 through 4 (n=655) were those…

The deterioration of industries in rural America in the 1980s has placed rural youth in a difficult situation. Those who remain in rural areas face a scarcity of good jobs, while those who leave face competition for employment against better-educated metropolitan youth. A study was conducted to: (1) examine the educational experiences of both…

Questionnaire data gathered from 142 high school students in a rural Montana town were used to identify the sources of influence in setting occupational and educational goals and to analyze the amounts of information transmitted from various categories of significant others. Results showed that for both occupation and education, peers and,…