This paper investigates family patterns and value orientations of rural blacks with regard to twelve categories of behavior, among which are education, health, recreation, occupation, housing patterns, and ethnic attitudes. Data presented are based on 100 interviews, and impressions from non-structured interviews with community leaders, public…

A study assessed the impact of the Shepherd School program, a nonformal basic education program in rural northern Ghana implemented by a nongovernmental organization. Data were gathered through observation; document analysis; and interviews with 42 children, parents, community members, chiefs, school staff, NGO members, and assemblymen in 2…

The Center of Excellence for Rural Special Education at Clemson University (South Carolina) has developed a field-based undergraduate preservice teacher training program. During the fall and spring semesters of their senior year, preservice teachers are matched with a mentor special education teacher for 2 weeks in a rural school district of the…

The Navajo Teacher Education Initiative was developed in 1992 to improve the quality of Navajo education through the recruitment and training of prospective Navajo educators. Currently, the 242 schools on or near the Navajo Nation are staffed primarily by non-Navajo teachers who often do not understand the significance of Navajo culture, history,…

Law-related education (LRE) has been shown to produce positive changes in student attitudes toward school, parents, the police, and deviant behavior. Project NEXUS, a rural Appalachian program designed to address dropout prevention and predelinquent factors, was implemented in Ellijay (Georgia) Middle School. A group of 25 students, chosen because…

A review of partial results of a survey of 265 rural schools in the North Central Association's 9 westernmost states revealed interesting trends in the characteristics of rural school personnel. Among the 192 teachers, 43 principals, and 46 school board members responding to the survey, women held fewer leadership positions than men, who held 91%…

A questionnaire was developed in order to discover the aspects of P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975) that prove both most and least problematic for rural special education cooperatives. A cooperative was defined as any interdistrict administrative arrangement that provides specific services to member school…

While the legal question of what constitutes a private school--and whether home schools can continue to operate as such--remains a matter to be resolved by the courts or further legislation, a separate question remains: What should be the role and relationship of home schools to the educational network of the future? Economically and…

Demographic changes between 1970 and 1980 will affect New York rural schools in the 1980's. In the 1970's overall New York state population declined nearly 4% (about 700,000 persons), but rural areas gained about 100,000. Rural New York school districts now serve a population of about 2.5 million, a 5% increase since 1970. During the 1980's,…

A study of three rural high schools in northern Tasmania (Australia) examined why vocational education and training (VET) programs had been established and what made them work. Three principals, four VET coordinators, and nine students were interviewed and two student focus groups were conducted. Results indicate that VET programs were established…

Resources available to Arizona through the School-to-Work Opportunities Act will not be concentrated in rural communities, although their educational and economic development needs are proportionately greater. Absent from education reform bills pending in the Arizona House and Senate is any reference to school-to-work transition or any explicit…

In 1985, the Department of Education in Alberta (Canada) adopted policy that allows remote or rural high schools to use distance education as a method for increasing curriculum offerings and avoiding the need for school consolidation. In 1987, the Alberta Department of Education implemented the Distance Learning in Small Schools Project to address…

This report overviews the rationale for conducting an ethnographic study of cultural factors that influence student aspiration in Tremont, a small rural community on Mount Desert Island, Maine. Although Tremont is the poorest community on Mount Desert Island, Tremont students scored as well or better on the Maine Educational Assessment than did…

Consistent with educational reform efforts, regular educators are being asked to meet the challenge of addressing the needs of special education and at-risk students along with "normal" students in the regular classroom. This paper examines how teacher education programs can assist in better preparing educators to meet this challenge and…

Collaboration between New Mexico State University's College of Education and three other entities has led to the computer experience microvan program, implemented in 1983, a unique system for bringing microcomputers into rural New Mexico K-12 classrooms. The International Space Hall of Fame Foundation provides the van, International Space Center…