Reports a study that examined the value hierarchies of adolescent groups categorized by tobacco use (nonusers, experimenters, and heavy users). Surveys of rural 7th-12th graders indicated significant differences among the 3 groups' value priorities in areas including health, family security, and a world at peace. (SM)

Values are a central concept in understanding and predicting human behavior. Value priority differences have been shown to predict important political, social, and economic attitudes and behaviors. The purpose of this study was to identify differences and similarities among the value hierarchies of adolescents who have never tried alcohol,…

Explores the value orientations of the rural school students of Uzbekistan by asking the students a variety of indirect questions, such as what their favorite motto in life is. Finds that these students were concerned mostly with social, moral, and spiritual values. (CMK)

Examined relations between parent attitudes, intrinsic value of science, peer support, available activities, and preference for science careers for science-talented rural high school girls. Findings from questionnaires completed by 220 students and their mothers highlight the importance of providing activities and other supports to maintain girls'…

This paper reviews the literature on rural poverty in the Northeast relating to rural education and makes suggestions for educators who teach the rural poor. Against the theory of a "culture of poverty," which suggests that the rural poor avoid hard work by choice, the more recent view is that the poor often accept the Puritan work ethic…

This paper examines the unique characteristics of rural adolescents raised on farms. As part of a longitudinal study on rural youth development, semistructured interviews were conducted each year for 4 consecutive years with 87 adolescents from 4 rural high schools in upstate New York. This study focused on data from the 19 adolescents who resided…

Seventeen adolescents from four rural high schools in upstate New York were interviewed while in the 12th grade and again a year later. Interviews focused on student perceptions of their community, school, and social life; values; and future plans. All participants graduated from high school, and most went on to college or moved to another…

Drawing from reports of rural graduates' insights, the study examined whether graduates of small school districts serving rural areas systematically differ from graduates of more metropolitan school districts. Primary data were collected during a four-year longitudinal study of students attending small schools serving rural areas (Project Rural).…

Interviews with 87 adolescents from farm and nonfarm families in rural New York revealed that farm adolescents were closer to their families, were more isolated from peers and peer-related activities, were less likely to pursue a college degree, and were unlikely to remain on the farm despite the positive aspects of farm life. Addresses…

This study compares the attitudes of academically gifted rural students with those of their classmates with regard to their communities and their aspirations for a sense of place. Although West Virginia, a largely rural state in Appalachia, is considered by outsiders as a place of deprivation, despair, and backwardness, an aspiration for a sense…

Rural high school girls face a strong home-versus-career conflict stemming from traditional rural values and myths about women. They also face the reality of few local job opportunities, due to rural economic and value structures and to occupational sex-stereotyping. For the most part, rural secondary vocational education maintains its…

Teachers, especially home economics teachers, would be better prepared to evaluate subject matter and to separate fact and personal opinion if they had a better understanding of diverse student backgrounds. To find out such background information, a study was conducted to analyze attitudes and values held by junior and senior students in home…