This paper studies trends in education and changes in political thinking that have accompanied rural to urban migration and the emergence of industrial society since the turn of the century. Nowhere is this shift reflected more clearly than in the centralization and consolidation of public schools. Because education is constitutionally a state…

Although much that is written about rural schools focuses on economic scarcities, pressures on teachers, and limited materials, there are also distinct advantages offered to those attending school in rural areas. Small schools provide all children--including the gifted--with unique opportunities to develop intellectual, social, and creative…

Data provided by the 1981-82 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were used to study the citizenship and social studies achievement of rural 13-year-olds. The NAEP extreme rural sample included 901 13-year-olds from schools in areas with less than 10,000 people and many farmers or farm workers in residence. School size in this sample…

Increased Department of Education (ED) interest in rural education has been part of the awakening of federal concern for rural American issues. In response to a 1979 Presidential mandate to define and address the needs of rural America, the ED has identified basic problems of rural education that lend themselves to solution by the federal…

Four different assumptions about the nature of rural education govern major strategies to reform its deficiencies: rural education is a problem because it is not urban; some small isolated schools are "necessarily existent"; small schools are desirable because of flexibility and responsiveness; and educational problems are independent of…

Arrayed by size of place, the U.S. rural population consitutes 31.4 percent of total U.S. population. Unfortunately, "rural" and "rural education" are often discussed as if they were separate entities. Actually they are inextricably interwoven, for those very factors which describe rurality very much determine rural education. Documenting the…

A 1971 message from the President of the United States, this report on government services to rural America discusses the American scene today, population, employment, income, community assets, education, health, housing, electricity and telephone services, the future of rural America, and program availability in rural areas. The appendix includes…

Based on findings of a questionnaire sent to small and large high schools (enrollments of under 500 and over 1,000) and on visits to small high schools in rural areas, this article offers five specific suggestions for improving the use of correspondence study for high school students. (JHZ)

This digest reviews research on the status of rural student achievement and schooling conditions and describes variations across the nation and the states. Between 1992 and 1996, rural students began to outperform nonrural students on the 8th-grade mathematics assessment of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Despite this aggregate…

This paper examines rural conditions from three perspectives: education, demographics, and economics from national, state and regional data sources; Rural Attitude Survey data from students at Western Carolina University in the Appalachian mountain region; and concerns of teachers about education in the region derived from focus group discussions.…

An art education teacher-educator discusses the strengths and potential of rural education, arising from the sense of community found in small rural schools. Gives six suggestions to art teacher-educators concerning integrating art with other curricula, utilizing technology in art education, ensuring that rural students are afforded equal…

A study examined the relationship between medical students' background and their attitudes toward being trained or working as doctors in rural areas. Surveys of 97 first-year medical students at an Australian university indicated that students from rural backgrounds were more willing than urban students to be trained and to work in rural areas.…

Reflects on education in China in light of the changing Communist world. Focuses on the tension among four competing educational goals--economic modernization, education as a universal right, recruitment of elites, and dissemination of ideology--while addressing problems in rural education, literacy education, teacher training, educational…

Compares school, classroom, and student level data for matched pairs of high- and low-achieving rural schools and matched pairs of urban schools. Finds that organizational and interpersonal processes sustaining effective schools vary by rural/urban context. Includes three longitudinal case studies of rural schools. Contains 26 references. (SV)

To shape reform in rural education, it is necessary to understand the problems, as well as the strengths of rural social and educational communities. An analysis of demographic, economic, and educational trends shows that in rural areas in general, working populations are shrinking, economies are declining, and students are not competing well in…