Rapid urban development in small rural communities is occurring at an unprecedented pace in regional Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite this growth, rural schools are positioned at the margins of the planning process and the implications of this urbanisation trend remains unknown. This research challenges the notion of the rural-urban divide by…

The Reading Recovery programme has been a key early literacy intervention in many international contexts for over two decades. As a consequence, there have been numerous investigations into its efficacy for short-term gains, but only a few on long-term sustainability. This study examines the progress of 95 Year 4-6 students from seven schools in…

Faced with urban schools' reluctance to host student teachers on practicum because "student teachers disturb their teaching order," Northeast Normal University in Changchun, China, collaborated with four rural provinces to develop a University-Government-School (UGS) initiative for rural practicum placements. To understand the teachers'…

This literature review interrogates current international writing about inclusive education (IE) in regional and remote settings, with explicit reference to Australian considerations, including the emergent National Curriculum. The task of this review has been to establish the types of knowledge reported about IE in minority, marginalized and…

The history of online learning at the K-12 level is almost as long as its history at the post-secondary level, with the first virtual school programs beginning in the early 1990s. While these opportunities were designed as a way to provide rural students with access to more specialized courses, as opportunities have become organized into virtual…

Investigation of the Rural Education Activities Program in New Zealand found that it provided broad, community-embedded service, but there was little capacity to measure these efforts, lessening their legitimacy and credibility. A range of actions remained unacknowledged or hidden, and ideological conflicts and tensions were apparent. (SK)

This paper examines women's experience of fear of crime in rural areas. It argues that much existing research on issues of gender, fear and safety have focused on urban areas and that as a result we know relatively little about women's experience of fear in a rural context. As well as arguing that we need to redress the balance and respond to the…

As in a US study, the most problematic factors affecting delivery of special education programs in nonurban areas of New Zealand were recruitment and retention of qualified staff, resistance to change, and long distances between schools. Lists 19 problems in special education service delivery, suggested solutions to 12 specific problems,…

Set within the context of New Zealand's national curriculum and culture, a case study describes how a small rural school developed a curriculum designed to preserve the values of its community. Computer-mediated communication, community classes, and projects such as a time capsule were the means that imparted community values and community…

A rural school principal from New Zealand participated in a principal exchange program that allowed her to visit various rural schools in Australia. She examined incentives to attract and retain teachers in remote schools, forms of teacher monitoring and appraisal, and the extent to which Australian parents and community members were involved in…

In 1995 many rural areas of New Zealand, especially on the North Island, faced significant teacher shortages. In response, the University of Waikato developed a program of primary teacher education designed to serve students in remote areas. Program features include recruitment and selection of rural students who will work in their home districts…

The National Education Association (NEA) in conjunction with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Library of Medicine, The Alaska Broadcasting Commission, and the Pacific PEACESAT Network, conducted four satellite experiments designed to improve professional communication among teachers. These programs were the Satellite…

This report outlines the results of two technology-based open learning pilot projects which focused on 600 women living in rural areas of the Southland and Hauraki-Coromandel regions of New Zealand. The technologies used were computer-assisted instruction, teleconferencing, and audio- and videotape recordings. An outline of project steering…

This proceedings of the 17th annual conference of the Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA) contains 28 keynote addresses and conference papers. Major conference themes were vocational education and training (VET) in rural schools, small schools, flexible rural delivery systems, and the community as a resource and…

A great deal of experimentation with telecommunications technologies is occurring in both New Zealand and Atlantic Canadian rural schools. New Zealand has developed a National Information and Communications Technology Strategy, the objectives and initiatives of which are described. On both the North and South Islands, small rural schools have…