The study determined whether rural students enrolled in vocational programs which were considered to be exemplary for training disadvantaged youth differed in attitudes related to school and work from similar disadvantaged youth not enrolled in vocational studies. Ranging in age from 15 to 19 years, 115 students from 4 on-going vocational programs…

A questionnaire of 50 items covering five categories of statements designed to determine their perceptions of office work was administered to 498 advantaged and 477 disadvantaged rural high school girls in six states, and to 326 city office employees throughout the United States who had attended a rural high school no more than three years prior…

To determine how attending predominantly non-Indian schools affected rural Indian pupils, a study of 12 schools was conducted with specific objectives to: (1) determine differences by type of school attended and sex, (2) isolate and identify cultural conditions related to differences, (3) determine the comparative status of Indian pupils by…

A study was conducted to determine whether the school and work related attitudes of students enrolled in model programs for training disadvantaged differed significantly from those of their counterparts who had no chance to take part in vocational education programs. Another goal of the study was to compare the affective characteristics of…

A study examined rural Australian student experiences of the transition to high school. Data were gathered from interviews, questionnaires, and student journals of 10 rural students during the last 5 weeks of primary school and during the first three terms of Year 7 in high school. Findings indicate that students had many anxieties related to the…

In 1999, Fairmont State College (FSC) received a U.S. Department of Education grant to implement Project GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) in nine primarily-rural counties of West Virginia. GEAR UP encourages disadvantaged youth to have high expectations, stay in school, and take academically rigorous…

The primary objective of a pilot study was to investigate the educational motivation of rural native Appalachian eighth grade females in terms of educational attitudes, educational decisions, and educational self-concept. Results from the study (sample size: 27) indicate strongly that female Appalachian adolescents, about to enter womanhood, do…

A self-reporting questionnaire (57 items) was administered to all high school sophomores (599 completions) in 3 rural Ohio high schools for purposes of identifying correlations between selected social factors and acts of vandalism. The variables examined and the student responses indicated: 52% had committed 1 or more acts of vandalism; 37% were…

Students from 24 southern 1862 and 1890 land-grant universities were mailed questionnaires focusing on 5 topics of concern to persons in agricultural education administration, teaching, and counseling--family and personal backgrounds, high school and college experiences, work and employment experiences, personal goals (aspirations), and attitudes…

To change the negative attitudes of academically disadvantaged students toward school and prepare them to succeed in high school vocational programs, 27 boys were selected to participate in a 3-year activity-centered instructional program. A problem-solving approach was used for learning experiences in applied biology and agriculture, mathematics…

The relationships among drug use, health beliefs, peer use, sex, and religion were examined using data collected from 265 seventh graders in rural northern Michigan and northeastern Wisconsin in January and February of 1984. Positive relationships were found between drug use and peer use and health beliefs. (TJH)

In the "Just Do It, Jr." program, 81 at-risk fifth-grade students in rural Nevada attended life skills training sessions, then taught self-esteem concepts to second graders. The fifth graders averaged a 16% improvement on self-observed school attitudes and self-esteem, and the second graders thought the programs were well taught. (TD)

This paper examines the influence of community context on the attitudes of rural and nonrural adolescents toward their own future geographic and social mobility. Part of a national sample in a longitudinal study of career development, the 1,060 subjects were public school students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 from 3 contrasting Illinois communities.…

This proceedings consists of five research papers presented during the 1997 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). The papers were presented during the sessions of the AERA Vocational Education Special Interest Group. "Predictors of Occupational Choice among Rural Youth: Implications for Career Education and…

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…