This document is a summary of presentations and strategies offered at the 1986 National Invitational Conference on Rural Adult Postsecondary Education. The conference, organized by the Action Agenda Project and co-sponsored by the National University Continuing Education Association, explored the educational needs of rural adults and designed…

This paper summarizes arguments surrounding the closing of Hisel School in Jackson County, Kentucky, in an effort to analyze the debate on rural education in Appalachia and how it relates to school-community relationships. Events surrounding closure of the school are summarized, including a two-year period in which a school community volunteer…

Characteristics of the rural school environment may partially account for the stability of rural students' science scores at a time of declining national science scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress Test. The relative success of rural science students may be tied to the rural student-teacher relationship. Several studies…

This paper examines trends that are currently reshaping rural America and rural education. It reviews the debate about how best to improve rural school districts, suggesting that what is needed is a better understanding of the changing context in which this country's public school enterprise is taking place. The paper begins by reviewing the work…

Education students planning to teach in rural areas need, but do not receive, specialized training. Among differences encountered by rural teachers are professional isolation and limited inservice training; assignment to more subjects, more grade levels, and more extracurricular activities; lower budgets and salaries; inadequate materials; less…

Rural American women number well over 25 million and represent all socio-economic and ethnic classifications, yet they share a conservative orientation towards sex roles and appropriate life styles, characteristic social and geographic isolation, and the dilemma of how to manage the traditional demands of rural culture and the contemporary…

In 1920, farm people comprised 61% of the rural population; in 1950, however, 60% of the rural population was composed of non-farm people. This change is attributed to increased agricultural efficiency and to expansion of industry and military services. From 1960 to 1966 the net out-migration averaged 804,000 persons per year from farm to city.…

Intended to spur policy makers, practitioners, parents, and other interested individuals to reopen rural educational issues, this volume explores "conventional wisdom" (the widely accepted assumptions and theories about rural education) and examines its merits in light of both accumulated experience and recent research. The text is…

This report examines the effect of education on occupation, income, social mobility, and teaching as a profession in Iowa from 1870 to 1930. Particular attention is given to the impact of socioeconomic background upon scholastic achievement, length of schooling, and dropout rates. The Iowa state census manuscripts and the federal census provide…

This report examines the changing industrial structure of work in the southern United States, with particular emphasis on industry and occupational projections for this region and the educational requirements for tomorrow's jobs. Also examined are expected annual earnings, projected unemployment rates, and part-time employment trends associated…

The association of rural or urban background with choice of medical practice location was investigated in two time periods, 1950-1955 and 1963-1968, using the alumni of the Medical College of Wisconsin. High school location, place of birth, and place of internship were found to be significantly associated with practice location. (Author/JMD)

Suggests that the rural development policy for Australia proposed by Jonathan and Katrina Sher in a previous issue of this journal fails to differentiate between "rural" and "regional," resulting in policies aimed at regional areas and the marginalization of rural communities. Offers a distinction between rural, urban, and…

One of the most enduring concerns of government and educational planners in developing countries is how to reduce rural-urban inequalities in educational provision. The aim is to ensure that all children have equal access to education of good quality irrespective of region, ethnicity and social class. This paper critically examines the provision…

This report shows the rural disparities in the baseline data of the Birth and Kindergarten Cohorts of the national Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS). The National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives, known as Rural Early Childhood, commissioned Child Trends to perform the analysis of key indicators of child well-being and…

To identify causes for low enrollment in secondary agricultural schools in Yemen, the United States Agency for International Development and the Yemen Ministry of Education surveyed 990 preparatory (junior high) students, examining their educational aspirations, differences between rural and urban youth, major influences on student aspirations,…