The professional education community has historically ignored questions concerning schooling's social purpose. Urban life, dependent on skills and values acquired in the country, is not the ultimate human experience pushed by the American elite. Society pays heavily for educating students to flee the communities that nurtured them. (36 references)…

The role of technology in rural Alaskan education is described in relation to seven problems: remoteness; limited curricula; small, multigraded classes; imbedded cultural traditions; dispersed management structures; inadequate training opportunities; and high cost. The issues of control, standardization, and scale are also discussed. (PB)

Discusses certain educational, demographic, and economic trends challenging rural education and summarizes Rural Attitude Survey results. Despite consolidation efforts, rural schools are poorer and smaller than nonrural schools. Despite their marginalization by the dominant culture, rural communities have precisely the qualities valued by critics…

This document examines rural education in the member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Within these nations the range of conditions and communities that are called rural is enormous. Nevertheless, the allocation of human and financial resources to rural education has increased despite generally adverse economic…

Describes components of "Seventh Five-Year Plan" for China that identify the importance of educational development. In 1985 the Ministry of Education was replaced by the National Education Commission, emphasizing the new prominence of education. The centralized structure of the education system is being dismantled, and concerns over the…

Systemic approaches like outcome-based education can't accommodate the common good of rural areas; rural scholars are rightly skeptical of "the one best system" and supporting technologies. Educators should also question new technologies (distance education, computer-assisted instruction, and telecommunications) promising an even more…

Updated vocational agricultural programs and school-based enterprises can help rebuild rural economies. Advantages of vocational agricultural programs include leadership training, a problem-solving approach to the teaching of sciences and mathematics, and strong community support. School-based enterprises combine educational objectives and local…

To fulfill its obligations to rural constituents, higher education should develop teacher training programs that (1) prepare teachers as generalists to accept broad teaching responsibilities; (2) help teachers understand the close school/community bonds in rural areas; and (3) prepare teachers to develop self-sufficiency in rural settings. (PB)

This article explores the benefits and drawbacks of centralized versus local control of schools. It concludes that our traditional conflict between Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian perspectives makes it possible for us to avoid a permanent imbalance between centrist imperatives and the need to maintain rural strength. (PB)

Self-interested political, corporate, and education leaders have undermined recent West Virginia court decisions mandating educational reform. Three implications are: (1) principals, teachers, parents, and students must be equal partners in the educaiton reform process; (2) a constituency for rural children is needed; and (3) rural educators must…