Farming-dependent counties are some of the most economically distressed parts of nonmetropolitan America because their inability to diversify economically has left them vulnerable to changes in natural resource markets, commodity prices, and farm conditions. The Midwest has been hit hardest. The greatest proportion of highly leveraged farms is in…

Rural work-education councils are free-standing voluntary associations of community leaders averaging around 21 to 25 voting members who are organized by task-specific action committees working to improve and expand educational and economic development options and thus ease the education-to-work transition in rural America. There are currently…

This document is the last of 10 reports resulting from New York's 1983 First Statewide Symposium on Rural Development and is intended to be used primarily as a resource document for the development of public policy proposals. The 9 preliminary reports generated discussion at 12 public hearings, plus written testimony, and served to catalog rural…

This bulletin is written to help answer questions on the rural school's part in good living, to be of use to teachers, parents, and supervisors in discussion groups or in individual planning. It points out that rural communities, from poor to average to well-to-do, are making new demands on education. It shows scenes from schools that are meeting…

An exemplary $20,000 study, funded by the Washington state legislature in 1985, permitted nine small rural farm-oriented school districts in Whitman County to determine the need for and possible options of collaboration and cooperation. The study embodied major components that could serve as a model for similar planning efforts. The study was…

Historically, urban and suburban interests have dominated educational policy at the national level, but recognition of the need for federal rural education policy is growing. Effective educational policy for rural people, who account for one-third of the U. S. population, must consider the distinctive characteristics of rural areas. Vast cultural…