This article provides an overview of current special education policy in Mexico and highlights two successful schools in rural Jalisco that have garnered recognition as particularly creative and responsive institutions. A void exists in the literature about the types of specialized services that children with disabilities are likely to encounter…

This paper presents a case study of the microeconomy of a typical underdeveloped village in southwest China and the role of elementary education in the village economy. The paper begins with a brief review of relevant theories on the economics of education and the current social conditions and state of education in the village under study, and…

This paper reviews research on small rural primary schools in Finland and analyses it under three thematic foci: the relationship between the local rural school and the surrounding community, the small rural primary school as a learning environment, and the teachers' profession in this context. Over 30% of Finnish primary schools are small rural…

Home visits by the teacher can be particularly valuable in creating mutual trust, respect, and cooperation between home and school. This article discusses the benefits of home visits and makes specific suggestions for the teacher on how such visits should be conducted. (DS)

In 1986 Bemidji State University (BSU), located in rural northern Minnesota, began an outreach distance learning program for the preservice education of elementary teachers. This college program delivers junior and senior year education courses to students 100 miles plus from the main campus. Junior and senior year requirements are completed in a…

The author reminisces about his childhood during World War II and the impact the war had on the rural community in which he lived. During wartime, children worked on farms after school and during the summer, commodities were rationed, and communities took part in air-raid drills. School lessons revolved around the war's events. (LP)

In rural Burkina Faso, donor agencies and the national government have initiated a five-year reform program aimed at decentralizing educational administration and augmenting local participation in school management. Reforms are founded on misplaced assumptions about public ownership of formal education, efficacy of short-term training, and shared…

Traveling schools provided elementary education for children in geographically isolated areas in New South Wales (Australia) from 1908 through 1949. Their success was due to the quality and dedication of the teachers and to the system of correspondence teaching developed within these schools. (LP)

This paper describes the work of a teacher at the Heartwood Dance Center, a school of dance and related arts in rural Calhoun County, West Virginia. The teacher also conducts freelance workshops in local schools of the region, where people are isolated and incomes are generally low. The extent to which children are talented is partially dependent…

This paper discusses a model for providing technical assistance to teachers of students with severe/profound mental handicaps who teach in rural areas. The model, known as the Institute for Educators of Students with Severe/Profound Mental Handicaps, is presently in its second successful year in the state of Georgia. Its unique design provides a…

Paul Hurder's model of the service delivery process (plus an organization variable) was used to examine factors which influenced effectiveness of special education resource teachers in small, rural elementary schools serving 250 or less English-speaking students in Quebec. Five resource teachers and 72 teachers they served rated each other in…

Interviews, program documents, progress reports supplied by the secondary itinerant teacher, and results of a questionnaire survey conducted by the itinerant teacher provided information for a brief, interim evaluation of the Secondary Itinerant Teacher Service. The service has endeavored to help all students (including adults) enrolled with the…

Questionnaires returned by 402 of a total of 672 teachers in one-teacher schools surveyed in spring 1984 provided data on these teachers and the students, schools, and communities they served. Findings indicated an estimated 800 one-teacher schools operating in 28 states, with the largest number 385, in Nebraska. Average enrollment was 11…

The experimental Contact Teacher Centre at Winton State Primary School was established in March 1983 to expand the avenues of service delivery for 20 isolated Queensland primary school children from 14 families living within an 80 kilometer radius of Winton. The aims of the Centre were to: (1) assist correspondence pupils with their work; (2)…

Interviews, project documents, and parent responses provided information for an interim evaluation of the Primary Itinerant Teacher Service, a pilot project designed to improve educational opportunities of children in the South-West Priority Country Area. In 1978, 3 itinerant teams of 2 teachers each contacted 238 students in 164 families and…