Discusses the history, structure, activities, and goals of the Rural Education Research and Development Centre (RERDC), an academic unit of James Cook University (North Queensland, Australia). Since the 1980s, RERDC has conducted educational research, provided training for rural teachers and other rural professionals, and held conferences…

Valdosta State University (Georgia) uses audio/video conferencing in its teacher education program, a low-cost alternative to travel that enables student teachers to access the expertise of their supervisors more frequently; supervisors to observe student teachers; simultaneous interactions between supervisor, student teacher, and mentor, or among…

Inservice training and staff development for rural schools are complicated by limited access to advanced training programs, limited financial resources, and a high attrition rate among rural educators. One way in which rural schools and universities can collaboratively work to fill this void is through distance education, which can help rural…

Research suggests that training programs for early intervention practitioners are not providing sufficient field experience and are not meeting actual training needs perceived by practitioners. Opinions about the roles of early childhood special educators and needs for training relevant to practice were obtained through interviews with 11…

The major purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility and effectiveness of regional/rural placements for student teachers. A secondary purpose was to discern attitude change among student teachers, cooperating teachers, and principals involved in the program. An evaluation was also made of the effectiveness of secondments, personnel…

DeSoto Parish, Louisiana is a basically rural area in nature and in 1970 was recognized as below the norm in its educational program. This document outlines the plan for the restructuring of the curricular program with an attendant inservice program in an effort to correct instructional deficiencies and to create in parents, teachers, and students…

The Applications Technology Satellite-6 (ATS-6) pilot study being conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) includes 20 experiments in the use of satellites for educational delivery systems in rural areas and for scientific and technological information dissemination. Initial usage of the system has been in North…

Education of disadvantaged children in rural Leflore County, Mississippi, is evaluated and discussed in this 1969 document by sections: (1) educational needs of Negro children, where recommendations are given for an active vocational counseling and guidance program plus improved inservice education for teachers; (2) educational needs of Negro…

During this two-day conference in 1968, 12 community representatives (black, Navajo, Appalachian, and migrant farm worker), who had had experience with trying to influence school policy and teacher training, confronted elementary teachers, teacher educators, and representatives from the U.S. Office of Education. The theme of many speeches is…

Synthesizes first comprehensive national effort to derive empirical data base for establishing rural education research priorities. Reports rating of 46 research questions prioritized into 13 themes by 461 rural education researchers/practitioners. Presents rank ordered themes including rural school effectiveness, governance/finance, staff…

This paper presents a framework for conceptualizing and analyzing the problems of educating rural youth for mathematical knowledge, and for improving both rural school mathematics and the conduct of research in rural environments. The background for this framework includes discussion of widespread rural poverty, the lack of a commonly accepted…

Homeschooling enjoys increasing recognition as a respectable alternative to public and private school education. State homeschooling populations are doubling every 3 years. With personal computers and the Internet, homeschooling families have access to a wealth of educational materials at all grade levels and for many populations. Homeschooling…

A qualitative study of three adults with Asperger Syndrome consisted of interviews conducted in person, over the phone, and via e-mail for 9 months. A main theme of the study was that they wanted to be considered experts in the field of autism and be consulted on issues related to autism. Consequently, these adults were asked to be part of a…

A series of U.S. Department of Education grants has enabled the University of Kentucky to deliver a graduate program on low incidence disabilities to students in rural areas via distance education. In 1989, the initial Training Rural Educators in Kentucky (TREK) project involved physically moving coursework to rural London, Kentucky. In subsequent…

As the population of minority pupils continues to increase, the need for special education personnel to identify and educate culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional students will also rise. Continuing shortages of qualified personnel in special education have been declared a national emergency, with "diagnostic staff" ranked as…