This digest summarizes information suggesting that long bus rides are part of the hidden costs of school and district consolidation. Rural school districts spend more than twice per pupil what urban districts spend on transportation. A review of studies shows that rural school children were more likely than suburban school children to have bus…

Between 1968 and 1991, the number of middle schools in the United States quadrupled from about 2,000 to more than 8,500. A study in four states--Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia--suggests a connection between pursuit of the middle school concept, school closings, and diminished chances for the survival of rural communities. (MLF)

Previous research in California, Alaska, and West Virginia has suggested that school or school district size may influence student achievement indirectly by mediating the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on achievement. The Matthew Project is replicating the key analyses of the West Virginia study in four strategically chosen states: Georgia,…

This ERIC digest synthesizes research characterizing the economic climate in which rural schools operate and reports on the traditional strategies used to create greater economic support for rural school districts. The benefits of steady urban economic growth have not been shared, generally, by rural areas; this has led to inadequate financial…

Reviews a book that documents the circumstances surrounding the closure of a small, rural West Virginia high school. The book's strength derives largely from its crossing of disciplinary borders to address social, political, and economic factors that have influenced changing educational values and the trend toward consolidation in rural West…

This report presents selected results of a national study of school districts operating at least one K-12 unit school. Of the 706 districts operating unit schools, 157 districts in 27 states responded to the survey. The majority of respondents (106) were superintendents of one-school districts, that is, districts in which the K-12 unit school was…