"Context". The word pervades the literature on adult and continuing education. For adult education practitioners and researchers alike, understanding the beliefs and actions of their educational place continues to be of significant concern, and rightfully so. That adults wish to have their histories, experiences, and abilities appreciated and…

The ability to visualize student engagement and experience data provides valuable opportunities for learning support and curriculum design. With the rise of the use of learning analytics to provide "actionable intelligence" on students' learning, the challenge is to create visualizations of the data, which are clear and useful to the…

Attracting and retaining effective education leaders and teaching staff for regional, rural and remote schools in Australia is a major sustainability and quality issue facing every State and Territory. It is also a major concern in pre-service teacher education, particularly for those universities which have a commitment to rural and regional…

Educational leadership has been the focus of many studies; however, leadership does not occur in a vacuum. Understanding the context in which it occurs will in turn help to explain the phenomenon itself. Rural communities in the United States have many differences when compared to urban and suburban areas. Twenty-eight percent of schools in the…

The Central Region states have greater percentages of rural students and schools than the U.S. average. This report describes how nine teacher preparation programs in the region prepare their graduates for teaching positions in rural settings. The study found that, of 120 institutions in the Central Region that offer teacher preparation, only 17…

New York rural schools and districts have a high percentage of core teaching assignments filled by highly qualified teachers, with only small differences across key factors such as school poverty and school need for improvement. Urban schools--particularly those in New York City--have fewer core assignments filled by highly qualified teachers.…

This review of literature about gifted rural education reveals not only important information but the need for further work. The concepts presented have applicability that is not exclusively rural, but they derive from studies done with rural students and take rural culture, history, and circumstances into account. Understanding the context of…

This essay considers the intellectual engagement of rural people in the context of their schooling. It argues that rural schooling shares the miseducative purposes common to American schooling in general (i.e., purposes associated with sustaining American global economic dominion). It frames rurally appropriate education as an on-the-ground…

The Distance Education Project for Rural Schools (DEPRS) was implemented by the Chinese government between 2003 and 2007 to improve the quality of basic education in rural areas of China, especially in the poorer western provinces. It has been referred to as "the largest ICT project in the world up to now" because "it serves a…

This paper examines one of the traditional technologies of distance education, radio, and presents examples of educational and community radio usage in Asia and Africa. Instead of merely transposing western approaches to distance education in developing countries, it is suggested that the developed world can learn from uses of radio in developing…

An explanation is presented about what keeps young men in isolated rural areas. The purpose is to contribute a concrete analysis of habitus as used in educational research. Inadequacies in application of the term are demonstrated in research conducted on school and work by the author in a rural town. An analysis of changes from labour-intensive…

This study identifies the major characteristics of "effective" primary schools in isolated areas in Vietnam. It suggests areas in which the implementation of beneficial changes can occur. Pupils in isolated areas of Vietnam are, in many respects, educationally disadvantaged. Usually, these pupils are in schools that have fewer…

The aim of this article is to investigate the rural educators' understanding of the legislations that impact on school practice. An argument is presented that the understanding of the legal frameworks that govern school practice begins with the educators' understanding of the Bill of Rights and the South African Schools Act. The article reports on…

Attracting and retaining quality teachers to rural and remote areas has been a challenge over the last decade. Many preservice teachers are reluctant to experience a rural and remote practicum and may not consider applying to teach in such areas when they graduate. Education departments and universities need to explore innovative ways that will…

In 2004, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania contracted with Pennsylvania State University to begin a longitudinal study of rural Pennsylvania school students to understand their educational and career aspirations and the factors influencing their aspirations, whether their plans change as they age and if they attain their goals. In its entirety,…