The overall goal of the sections of Mercer County's Chapter 1 project described in this profile was to provide a low-risk environment for the development of writing, reading, and related language arts skills in first, second, and third grade children. This goal was implemented within the broader sphere of the total school community. Communication,…

Based on research studies of effective staff development and rural education, the Inservice Leadership Team (ILT) was designed to identify key teachers in school buildings, team them with principals and central office staff, and train the team to design, deliver, and evaluate staff development at the school level. Rural Pennsylvania school staff,…

As part of a 45-state study, a self-administered questionnaire was mailed during the 1982-83 school year to 70 of Oklahoma's 237 public K-12 school districts enrolling fewer than 1,000 students; the questionnaire requested information about rural districts, teachers, students, and school programs. For the 45 responding districts, average student…

This issue features a special report on a 1982-1983 study of 19 rural North Dakota high schools. The report is preceded by a brief commentary. The study provides in-depth descriptions of 7 schools and survey data from 12 others, and has sections on teachers, students, purposes and expectations, school climate and relationship with the community,…

This module of the staff training series deals with techniques for developing career guidance programs in three settings--the home, the community, and the school. Suggestions and experiences are outlined to help practitioners gain skill in designing career guidance practices appropriate to these environments. Home-centered career guidance…

This document begins by describing the technological revolution and the impact of computers, and their role in education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Some educators believe that computer literacy can provide young people with access to better jobs in the society of the future and upgrade the level of education in general. An article by…

The 1981 enactment of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act Chapter 2 (ECIA-Chapter 2), which consolidated 28 separate categorical federal aid programs into a single block grant, has had policy and fiscal impacts in Michigan. Policy debate centers on the inherent tension between equity, particularly equity defined as equal treatment of…

After an introductory section which points out that the responsibility of small and rural schools is to provide all children with a quality education, and that Boards of Education must decide what is best for all children in the community, the paper briefly describes 16 exemplary programs involving cooperation between school districts. The…

The relationship between the internal structure of the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education (GIAE) in rural Australia and the structure of the social and physical environment are considered, based on a sociological case study. A review of higher education covers the technical school system, the development of colleges of advanced education in…

This study was undertaken to assess the condition of school facilities in rural and small school districts in the 50 states and analyze the mechanisms used by rural and small school districts to finance capital outlay. The study is part of an ongoing effort to address concerns specific to rural and small schools in the United States. The focus of…

Teachers and administrators in rural New Mexico schools and preservice teachers at New Mexico State University were surveyed to determine components that could be included in teacher education programs to augment prospective rural teachers' skills and to ease problems of recruitment/retention of certified personnel in rural schools. Questionnaires…

Designed to help principals in rural and small schools, this volume contains 29 articles under the three broad headings of new possibilities in everyday practice, applications of recent research, and initiatives to help schools and communities grow. The editors' introduction notes the challenges facing small school administrators, the problems…

A workshop was used as a long-term planning method by a small, rural state college in Montana to promote recruitment and service to nontraditional students (adults 25 years old or older). The first step was the review of national trends and conditions within the state and college by a committee composed of administrators, faculty, and…

Materials contained in the 16 volumes that make up the Rural America Series suggest practices through which rural schools can meet local community needs and realize their potential for career program delivery. This handbook, one of five in the subset of program development process documents for the series, describes the need for and…

The Career Awareness Program (CAP) not only showed how improved school-community relations impact on quality instruction and student growth, but also resulted in identification of variables which affect curriculum change and program development in small, rural schools; these variables were administrative philosophies, community attitudes and…