This paper addresses misconceptions about the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). Advocates claim that there has never been a statewide school reform of KERA's significance and magnitude. However, Kentucky legislators, both in 1909 and in the mid-1950s, passed governance and finance reforms considered to be as revolutionary as those of KERA. A…

A new system of education designed to solve problems facing rural areas in developing countries is needed. Guidelines for the rural development functional literacy systems for Upper Volta, Tanzania, China, Cuba, and Thailand are described. (BP)

The article reviews the background, philosophy, and objectives of Peru's education system and outlines the innovations within the structure, management, and administration of the system. Emphasis has been placed on basic education at all age levels, developing higher education, and meeting rural needs. (MW)

This paper discusses the question of standardization and educational equity among rural school systems and offers three "fundamental challenges" for educators. The first challenge is to take seriously the power of education and to resist the temptation to reduce expectations placed on education and educators. The power of education is…

Rural teachers face difficulties (lower salaries, inadequate facilities, isolated living, scant inservice training, and inadequate housing) not found in urban school districts, and most have not been prepared for rural life and teaching by their teacher education programs. Specialized training for rural teachers is practically non-existent; most…

Twelve research reviews which were compiled by The Center for Vocational and Technical Education, Columbus, Ohio, are organized under these topics: (1) Review and Synthesis of Research Series, which were prepared through the facilities of The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse on Vocational and Technical Education in the…

The theme running consistently through this speech is that the supportive services to vocational education, to be effective, must be viewed in a sociological context. Further examination of the issue is considered from a social system perspective and from the individual behavior perspective. It is concluded that no problem as complicated as the…

The present study presents a comprehensive evaluation of school reform in Dahomey, including empirical control and ideology-critical reflexion up to a stage which seldom occurs in research. The subject, method, and the result of this evaluation are explained. (Author/CTM)

The promotion of educational reform by Perren Baker and the members of his Education Department in Alberta, Canada, are discussed. The important task he undertook, the upgrading of the rural educational system of Alberta, was not immediately successful but his efforts paved the way for William Aberhart, who was able to reorganize rural school…

In 1923 John D. Rockefeller's General Education Board (GED) undertook a project to reform the public schools in two rural Indiana counties. The GED demonstration project developed from more than two decades of concern about America's rural problems. The attempt by cosmopolitan outside experts to change the rural schools is described. (RM)

China's official history maintains that the radical egalitarianism of the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) led to economic disaster. This book challenges that view. Drawing on local interviews and records in rural Jimo County, Shandong Province, this study contends that the Cultural Revolution's political convulsions democratized village political…

To fulfill a service-learning course requirement at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), two science-education doctoral students provided professional development to rural teachers and principals participating in the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI). This paper begins with descriptions of service learning objectives, both in…

This paper describes systemic thinking in support of the recently established Navajo Nation Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI). The RSI aims to create a standards-based student-centered teaching and learning environment in mathematics, science, and technology in the 173 elementary and secondary schools on or near the Navajo Nation, including public,…

Describes the structure of the Chinese rural school system and its operational ties to the communes, which provide the "productive labor" component of Chinese education, various resources and facilities for schools, and governance of agrotechnical education at the middle and secondary level. (SJL)

Describes problems in rural education and highlights reform programs in rural schools. Many reform programs combine school improvement with rural economic development. Barriers to reform include the One Best System Model and consolidation. Local control of schools is a key to successful reform. (KS)