Rural Appalachia encompasses a region of the United States represented by unique cultural strengths and systemic challenges. To meet their students' career and college needs, school counselors working in rural Appalachia must understand the cultural nuances of the region. Consensual qualitative research (CQR) methodology revealed five domains and…

The purpose of this research paper was to highlight the factors students and school staff identify as contributors to mental health issues students attending rural, low socioeconomic high schools experience and the specific mental health issues they witness most. A collective case study was conducted in four rural high schools, two in Kansas and…

Securing attendance is challenging at rural high schools with a high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic states (low-SES) households. Best practices of principals to achieve high annual attendance rates (> 90%) were studied. Interviews were held with principals from 8 of 12 high schools across rural West Virginia that met the…

Some STEM outreach programs connect students to real-world problems and challenge them to work towards solutions. Research shows one-third of children between ages 5-17 in the U.S. are overweight. Socioeconomic status, race, and parental educational attainment all influence this issue as well as living in a rural or urban area. A rural high school…

The development of civically engaged citizens is vital for democratic societies. Although several studies have explored children and adolescents' conceptualizations of civic engagement, less is known about youths' understanding of the individual skills and attributes best suited for civic action. The current study utilized a Q-sort methodology to…

In designing learning environments that support student learning, there are many instructional design decisions. These include when and how to provide examples, verbal explanations, feedback, and other scaffolding features. In this paper, the authors investigate instructional guidance as it relates to Cognitive Tutor, an intelligent tutoring…

Schools are finding effective ways to engage students totally in learning by addressing students' minds, personalities and behaviors. They are designing curricula and instructional strategies to generate interest and challenge students to stay in school and do their best. The goal is to graduate a "complete student" who will be ready for…

In 1990, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) was completed by a random sample of 1,448 West Virginia public-school students in grades 9-12. The sample was 51 percent male and 89 percent white. About 71 percent of subjects were aged 15-17; 39 percent were in the ninth grade. The YRBS covered behaviors producing vehicle-related or other injuries,…

REAL Enterprises, Inc. (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning) is an academic program that helps students learn the basics of starting and nurturing a new business. West Virginia is 1 of 17 states offering the program with the goal of preparing youth to take advantage of economic opportunities in their own communities. (LP)