Generalizations about rural youth can be misleading as they are heterogeneous in their backgrounds, cultural heritage, values, and aspirations. This diversity is especially apparent when ethnic subgroups are examined. Black and Hispanic rural youth tend to have lower levels of achievement than white rural youth. This should be kept in mind when…

A two-phase study assessed the extent to which a set of variables predicted rural secondary students' likelihood of continuing to college and sought to determine predictors of rural students' academic success at the completion of first-year university study. Participants were drawn from seven state coeducational secondary schools in the Riverina…

In many African countries, rural-urban kinship ties support the education and economic mobility of rural children through fosterage into urban families. Demographic survey data from central Cameroon indicate major rural-urban differences in child fosterage relative to family characteristics and child's school performance, and show lower rural…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was designed to measure knowledge, skills, and attitudes of young Americans at various ages in 10 learning areas, and to measure educational attainment over time. Community categories used in NAEP research were High and Low Metro, Urban Fringe, Main Big City, Medium City, Small Places…

A study was conducted in Logan County, Oklahoma, among rural disadvantaged high school students whose families' total income was $4,000 annually or below. The objectives of the study were: (1) to determine whether the source of family income, public or non-public assistance, had an effect upon academic performance of students from the same…

Since there is no private property in the Soviet Union, social status is largely determined by education. Consequently, the educational levels of rural youth in all the Union Republics are nearly identical, while among the older generations of rural inhabitants there are still definite differences. In Estonia, for example, the educational level of…

Analyzing the effects of higher education accessibility, the present state of difficulties re: accessibility, and the functioning of various means of accessibility compensation, this paper presents the development of Polish education in terms of the social, political, and economic systems operative during the inter-war period (1918-39) and the…

Working class immigrant youth are frequently more successful in school than nonimmigrant students of similar background if they receive all their schooling in their new homeland. This article explores the forces that allow the children of Punjabi Sikh farm families to succeed academically in spite of severe handicaps. (VM)

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…

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…

This study reports on levels of achievement among rural black and white Southerners of relatively low socioeconomic status. The 262 persons who were the objects of the study were reared in Millfield, North Carolina. They were first studied by Baughman and Dahlstrom (1968) in the early 1960s when they were in the eighth grade. Ten years later, this…

A review of literature and research on rural education in England indicated declining enrollments coupled with severe government restraints on public expenditures are impacting upon the maintenance and orientation of rural English schools. Investigation of research on the education of girls with specific reference to academic achievement and work…

The purpose of this study was to identify and explain factors which account for rural youths having lower attendance records and lower educational attainment than urban youths. The major objectives were: (1) to determine the factors affecting the school attendance and attainment of rural youths; (2) to determine the life aspirations of rural…

Using data obtained from recent cross-national and longitudinal studies, the link between family influences and the traditional patterns of school achievement were assessed in terms of rural educational mobility and sex differentials within the context of the "sponsored" system of Norway's schools and the "contest" system…

Analysis of data from the National Education Longitudinal Study supported the thesis that rural adolescents' disadvantages with regard to certain family and school resources and resulting low investments in education explain rural deficits in both educational attainment and standardized achievement. (Contains 67 references.) (Author/SV)