In 1998 the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics held a working conference on issues pertaining to effective mathematics education in schools serving poor communities. This paper reprises some themes of that conference and highlights potentially important issues to consider in a research agenda with an intentional focus on rural mathematics…

Investigations of the linkages between improved schools and local economic development are rare. This paper considers several models that introduce human capital as a potential source of economic growth in the rural South. Results from various econometric models indicate that across the South, county per capita income growth rates from 1970 to…

To fulfill a service-learning course requirement at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), two science-education doctoral students provided professional development to rural teachers and principals participating in the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI). This paper begins with descriptions of service learning objectives, both in…

BRAC (formerly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee), the largest Indigenous nongovernmental organization in the world, has a unique teacher training program in rural Bangladesh. Almost all BRAC teacher-trainees are rural women, who must have completed at least 9 years of schooling. Trainees spend only 12 days in initial basic teacher training…

The Kayenta Unified School District (KUSD)(Arizona) transition program helps prepare Dine (Navajo) special education students for postsecondary opportunities within their own communities and outside the Navajo Reservation. The senior transition class entails a year-long course that focuses on the application process for tribal and federal…

This paper describes systemic thinking in support of the recently established Navajo Nation Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI). The RSI aims to create a standards-based student-centered teaching and learning environment in mathematics, science, and technology in the 173 elementary and secondary schools on or near the Navajo Nation, including public,…

This paper examines issues and areas of concern for the educational researcher moving from the relative safety of academic research to the more perilous arena of practice-oriented or action-oriented qualitative research. The first question is one of purity or objectivity: giving credibility to research results by imposing adequate rigor on methods…

Alaska's efforts toward sustainable development include protecting the subsistence lifestyle by involving indigenous people in stakeholder decisions about whaling and fishing quotas and offshore oil drilling; developing rural energy, water, and sewage infrastructures; using telecommunications to bring health care and education to remote areas; and…

This paper stresses the importance of Appalachian children being exposed to literature that reflects their way of life and values. The author, who grew up in Appalachia, discusses her difficulties in learning to read because of a lack of literature that related to her way of life. The paper presents an overview of literature that accurately…

The implementation, delivery, and impact on students of news programs delivered to schools by Channel One and CNN-Newsroom were examined in seven rural districts in Wisconsin. Investigation covered three districts using CNN and four districts using Channel One within a three-county area. Involved administrators, teachers, and students responded to…

One factor thought to contribute to the underutilization of mental health services, especially among rural Americans, is the stigma attached to mental illness and the associated help seeking process. This study investigated the effects of an instructional unit on mental illness and related issues on rural adolescents' concept of mental illness and…

This paper examines the meaning of "rural" in rural education research and the relationship of this meaning to the research project's design and purpose. In traditional, comparative research designs, "rural" becomes a part of research that involves or implies comparisons with the nonrural. In contrast, emergent, interpretive…

This paper examines the comparable educational histories of the "Hispanos" of a mountainous area of New Mexico and the peoples of southern Appalachia. Presbyterian missionaries entered both regions following the Civil War and soon placed mountain people in the category of "exceptional populations," along with freed slaves,…

Due to changes in certification and a shortage of special education teachers, school districts in rural Nevada frequently employ special education teachers who have not been trained to teach students with severe or multiple disabilities or serious emotional disturbances. A recent survey of 271 special education teachers and administrators in…

For some students with mild or moderate disabilities, postsecondary education might include attendance at a community college, technical school, or 4-year college. From 1978 to 1991, the percentage of full-time college freshmen reporting disabilities more than tripled, with visual impairments and learning disabilities making up half the…