Though current agricultural economic and social conditions are impacting on the scale of educational delivery systems, the way education is financed in rural areas, the range of educational services available, and the willingness and ability of local districts to provide levels of educational services justified by overall societal benefit and…

A variety of information and sources for information on child sexual assault are collected in this document geared for educators in small communities. Materials include a fact sheet on small community concerns about sexual abuse, a flow chart for training school personnel in intervention and prevention, suggestions for school protocol for…

A study of K-12 rural school districts enrolling 900 students or fewer in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona used data gathered during the 1981-82 academic year. These data were compared with those from a nationwide survey using the same questionnaire. Qualifying districts were identified: 626 in Texas (56.9% of all Texas public school districts,…

This paper reports on a study of the Biomedical Sciences Preparation Program (BioPrep), a rural component of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation's funded projects. The program was intended to give Alabama students (particularly minorities) academic competency in mathematics, science, and oral and written communication relevant to medical professions.…

The problem of rural education, specifically in the south, is not a single problem, but a set of related problems. This paper summarizes the historical perspective of education's importance in the rural South and the attitudes of the general populace. Illiteracy, dropout rates, and the need to retrain workers losing jobs in agriculture and…

A four-week summer project for 100 rural tenth graders in the University of Alabama's Biomedical Sciences Preparation Program (BioPrep) enabled students to acquire and apply social sciences research skills. The students investigated drinking water quality in three rural Alabama counties by interviewing local officials, health workers, and…

Although rural education is entering an era of opportunity in terms of both youth and adult needs, the capacity of rural areas to provide needed educational services may be diminished due to rapid economic and social change, particularly in agriculture. Three federal policies operating over the past two decades have created an unfavorable…

A consortium was organized in 1977 to assist 16 school districts, covering 5,100 square miles and including 19,000 students in a largely rural part of Oregon, to comply with Public Law 94-142 which requires provision for appropriate public education for the estimated 12% of the school population who are handicapped. Problems making it difficult…

Federal policy and research regarding staff development in rural areas must take into consideration the inherent limitations in teacher inservice and preservice education, rural educational problems (limited human resources, migrant education, modern education services) that could be remedied by improved staff development, and the role of both the…

The paper shows costs of elementary and secondary schools applicable to Oklahoma rural areas, including the long-run average cost curve which indicates the minimum per student cost for educating various numbers of students and the application of the cost curves determining the optimum school district size. In a stratified sample, the school…

This report examines the feasibility of a Rural Learning Network (RLN) using technology to connect rural California schools to educational resources at the University of California at Davis (UCD). Teachers from five rural schools agreed to participate in the pilot project for 2 years, during which time they would participate in on-line…

The "Read, Imagine, Decide, and Do" (RIDD) reading strategy was developed based on observations of student behaviors and reading problems while completing academic tasks. The four steps of the RIDD strategy are described. To determine its effectiveness, four elementary teachers in a rural northeastern Nebraska school taught the RIDD strategy. Each…

In 1998, a consortium including the University of Calgary (Alberta) and representatives from social service agencies and Native organizations developed a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) model for delivery in rural, remote, and Aboriginal communities. The model called for innovative course content that was culturally and geographically relevant to…

California State University, Chico, and 47 rural school districts in northeastern California collaborate on an on-the-job teacher preparation program designed to alleviate the shortage of qualified special education teachers and reduce teacher isolation. The university provides televised or Web-based courses, regional supervision, and separate…

This study examined attitudes toward inclusive education among rural educators serving students with mild disabilities, with attention to the effectiveness of three models to promote attitude change. The three interventions assessed were a 1-day inservice meeting followed by a pilot inclusion project during the academic year; a graduate course…