A rural Maine school system interviewed 10 administrators and 26 special-education teachers, technicians, and related service personnel as part of an analysis of its special-education services. Findings indicated a lack of a clear mission, limited administrative supervision, inconsistent prereferral procedures, increasing numbers of…

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…

Because of increased demands for curriculum expertise and constricted funding, many small rural elementary schools in the United Kingdom have created consortia, allowing groups of schools to share resources and facilities and cooperatively plan for meeting educational standards. Describes cluster development and concludes that loss of school…

Used data from a national survey of eighth graders to examine relationships between factors related to dropping out of high school and students' perceived likelihood of not completing high school, investigating urban and rural differences. Locus of control, self-concept, and educational aspiration inversely correlated with perceived likelihood of…

Describes the major characteristics of elementary school education in rural China and the problems that confront rural educators. Discusses student-teacher relationship, classroom management strategies, principal and teacher roles, differences between urban and rural education, economic influences on rural education, and challenges for rural…

This study attempted to examine differences in physical activity levels between urban and rural primary school children. The sample consisted of 256 Greek-Cypriot children and their parents from two schools representing urban areas and three schools representing rural areas. Children's activity levels were assessed for 4 weekdays in the winter and…

This study was designed to examine the associations and differences that exist in the NCE scores of students on the "Terranova" portion of the Tennessee Comprehensive Exam, as well as the possible influence of variables such as initial scores, grade level, gender, and free or reduced lunch status. The population consisted of a stable…

This report shows the rural disparities in the baseline data of the Birth and Kindergarten Cohorts of the national Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS). The National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives, known as Rural Early Childhood, commissioned Child Trends to perform the analysis of key indicators of child well-being and…

The article examines, through comparative case study method, how secondary-language-arts preservice student teachers' identities were constructed by spacetime configurations and what those identities meant to the individuals in the study. It reflects on the findings from two of the preservice secondary arts teachers for the study in two…

In 2007, the Texas Legislature (80th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2007) authorized the creation of the Texas Rural Technology (R-Tech) Pilot program, which provides $8 million in funding to support rural districts in implementing technology-based supplemental education programs. In order to be eligible for funding, districts must have…

Inverness Research studied the American Museum of Natural History's (AMNH) Seminars on Science program for eight years, from its inception in 1998 to 2006. This paper presents teacher survey ratings for "The Link between Dinosaurs and Birds", along with profiles of three teachers who took the course. Course takers report on the annual…

Recognizing the challenges rural districts face in providing broad curricular offerings and supplemental educational services to students, in 2007, the 80th Texas Legislature authorized the creation of a pilot program designed to provide technology-based supplemental educational services to rural school districts that show an overall academic need…

This document consists of a facilitator's guide and related materials for implementing a program that teaches social, communication, and study skills to middle school and junior high school students. The goal of the program, which incorporates peer tutoring, is the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse. This program was developed in Iowa to address…

This proceedings contains approximately 100 conference papers and workshop summaries on rural health, education, and community development. The majority of the papers are concerned with conditions in rural Australia; about 20 examine rural issues in the United States; while a smaller number cover Canada, New Zealand, and European countries. A…

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…