The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has been studying the four-day school week since 2015. Since then, the phenomenon of the four-day school week has spread into non-rural areas and interest appears to be growing. Given these apparent changes, the author wanted to know more about recent trends in the initiative. As districts continue…

Many reports on rural education give little attention to digital learning. At most, they tend to note either infrastructure needs or the potential of remote course access, with little focus on instruction, outcomes, or exemplars. This report intends to begin correcting that imbalance by connecting the dots between rural regions, rural education,…

In American popular culture, the word "rural" invokes images of sunny farms and little red schoolhouses--while "urban" means drugs, poverty, and crime. But those who know the reality of both worlds will say that rural schools face many of the same challenges as their urban counterparts. The problems of rural schools are often…

Facing financial difficulties, the Webster County Public School System in rural Kentucky implemented a four-day school week to save money on transportation and staffing. The district's research in the experience of other rural districts had indicated that such a calendar change could increase efficiency and also yield some unexpected benefits.…

Compares and contrasts first year teaching experiences of a grandmother (1919) and granddaughter (1980) in small, isolated, rural New Mexico schools. Offers suggestions for improving recruitment and retention of rural teachers in areas of salary, housing conditions, school philosophy and morale, student population, and community life. (NEC)

Rural areas of the world share many common problems, such as a lack of diverse educational and economic development opportunities. This paper argues that only when rural areas develop strong partnerships among organizations with diverse strengths, and these organizations bring some measure of power to these partnerships, will these rural areas be…

Describes a computer-based communications network linking the University of New Mexico and six isolated Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Discusses network structure, staff training, and network delivery of instructional programs and in-service teacher education and staff development programs. (SV)

This paper examines the knowledge and acceptance level of special and general education teachers and administrators regarding inclusive education within the rural and diverse state of New Mexico. While inclusive education of disabled students has gained widespread support, little attention has been paid to program implementation within a rural and…

In 2002-2003, 27% (12.5 million) of public school students attended school in communities of fewer than 25,000 and 19% (8.8 million) attended school in smaller communities of fewer than 2,500. In this report, the authors focus on the schools in those smaller communities, the most rural schools in America. They frame the report around 22…

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE LEVELS OF THINKING THAT CHARACTERIZED TRACK I AND TRACK IV CLASSES IN ENGLISH, MATHEMATICS, AND SOCIAL STUDIES AT THE EIGHTH GRADE LEVEL. THE DATA WERE GATHERED AT CENTRAL JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, ALAMOGORDO, NEW MEXICO, BY OBSERVERS RECORDING THE VERBAL INTERCHANGES AND TEACHER-PUPIL TALK OR PUPIL-PUPIL…

Describes the New Mexico Rural Science Education Project, a school-university-museum cooperative effort that seeks to improve rural elementary science education through teacher workshops, teacher-developed materials on local themes, individualized support services, and natural history field schools for teachers and students. (SV)

Two surveys were conducted to determine perceptions of administrators and teachers regarding the impact of Public Law 94-142 on programs for severely handicapped children in New Mexico's small, rural school districts. One year after the infusion of federal funding, 55 percent of the respondents perceived no improvement in the level of services.…

This review of articles and facts about microcomputers focuses on the development of hardware and software and the use of microcomputers in education, particularly rural education. In addition to presenting a brief history of microcomputers, the review presents information regarding the costs and brands of microcomputers; the development, use,…

A three-year collaborative, inservice teacher-training program--being implemented by New Mexico State University, the University of Arizona, and rural school districts in New Mexico and Arizona--is designed to improve educational and occupational opportunities of rural girls and young women in the region. The program emphasizes new and less…

Rural elementary school teachers interested in improving science instruction are frequently hampered by inadequate training in science, lack of information on local natural history resources, and time and curriculum constraints. On the other hand, rural schools are usually located near meadows, forests, or undeveloped land, and rural students…