Project NETWORC (Nevada Educational Television Working Out in Rural Communities) is presented as a model for ensuring effective preparation of rural special education teachers by delivering university courses to individuals already working in rural communities. Four courses are offered, each having a video segment, audioteleconferencing segment,…

Discusses current problems and issues facing vocational special education in rural areas, including limited educational access resulting from isolation, teacher shortages, and financial problems; curriculum shortcomings; lack of relevance to local job market; and lack of local employment opportunities. Describes successful rural strategies,…

Distance education can improve rural education by alleviating geographic isolation of small rural schools and increasing educational opportunities for both students and teachers. In Australia, distance education technologies include telecourses for staff development and an electronic mail and bulletin board system linking schools. (LP)

In rural Alleghany County (North Carolina), one of the state's seven "cyber campuses" provides an expanded curriculum and advanced placement college courses to high school students and an array of community college and 4-year college courses to residents, who otherwise would be deterred from further education by their isolated location.…

A study examined factors influencing female cassava processors' intentions regarding participation in an extension education program on cassava processing in rural Nigeria. Interviews were conducted with 224 women who were purposely selected from areas of zone 3 of Ondo State, Nigeria, which has large concentrations of cassava processors.…

This report describes an educational partnership between South Dakota State University and Capital University Center, Inc. (CUC), (Pierre, South Dakota). CUC is a nonprofit organization founded in 1982 to provide access to higher education for residents of rural central South Dakota. CUC contracts with South Dakota State University for educational…

This article describes the formation of an educational partnership developed in a rural, Appalachian, coal-mining community. Williamson Main Street, Inc., a downtown revitalization program, and Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College (Southern) combined their efforts to create the Tug Valley Economic Development Institute (TVEDI).…

Although children of migrant workers tend to have low educational achievement, there is a surprising lack of data concerning educational challenges faced by handicapped migrant children. It is often a teacher's advocacy that results in a student's enrollment in special education services. This paper describes a Florida program for training special…

Advances in satellite technology hold great promise for offering a broad and varied curriculum in small rural schools. In 1985 and 1986 three vendors in the continental United States pioneered the offering of interactive satellite instruction for high school credit courses. The programs were: (1) German by Satellite offered by the College of Arts…

Vocational education programs adapted for use in rural areas are often unsuccessful because they do not meet the unique needs of rural communities. Rural school districts have limited financial resources, and few rural schools can offer a wide range of programs or special services to students. Smaller rural communities need persons having multiple…

This paper examines the potential impact of technology on postsecondary rural education, based on the experiences of people currently using technological delivery systems. Migration and economic dislocation of rural communities increases the need for educational services, while state resources generally have decreased. Technological solutions to…

At the first National Invitational Meeting on Rural Postsecondary Education (also known as the Kansas City Initiative), 28 rural specialists in lifelong learning produced an 8-item Bill of Rights and an 11-item rural postsecondary action agenda. Participants discussed organizational deficiencies in rural adult education, the sense of isolation all…

This paper describes how a school of social work in a predominantly rural state made successful use of interactive closed circuit television (ICCT) to train and offer continuing education to rural social workers. While the overall rate of rural population growth has declined in recent years, social problems in these areas have increased, a…

This ERIC Digest discusses relevant issues and alternatives for rural school districts trying to develop strong programs for their most academically talented students. Although rural schools are more often constrained by high costs and material shortages than are urban schools, there are opportunities inherent in the lower teacher-student ratios…

The report details the description, analysis, and understanding phase of a study to provide local and state educational planners with information that would enable them to compare and evaluate alternative forms of inter-school district cooperation as a means of providing rural students with access to quality vocational education. Chapter I…