In this book, an experienced elementary school teacher recounts how she and three other teachers of grades 4, 5, and 6 decided to relax the compartmentalization of learning into subject areas and shuffle subject matter into new patterns to offer students a voice in their education. The book describes how the teachers created a multiage…

An innovative, flexible scheduling technique for advanced levels of a foreign language program is described. The technique, predicated on individualized pacing and continuous progress, is generalizable to all elective programs, and offers a workable solution to satisfy the enrollment "numbers game" and to lend breadth and depth to the curricula of…

The study indentified all K-12 and 1-12 public school districts in the United States enrolling less than 300 students (n=1,414) and those enrolling 301-900 students (n=2,711), collected and analyzed data related to superintendents, school districts, teachers, students, and school programs, and gathered data that might be useful to colleges of…

Over 400 journal articles, case studies, research reports, dissertations, and position papers are briefly described in a series of eight selected bibliographies related to school organization. The eight specific areas treated in the volume and the number of items listed for each include: nongraded elementary school organization, 96; nongraded…

Studied the longitudinal stability of measures of peer acceptance, social status, and social reputation and the role of children's ages relative to classmates during the transition from same-age kindergarten to mixed-age ungraded primary classes. Found that overall peer acceptance and aggressive social reputation were moderately stable. Half of…

This book compares small schools in various countries with large ones and offers cost effective strategies for small schools. Part I focuses on social, economic, and educational issues related to small schools. Small schools are beneficial to their communities as centers of social development. In addition, small schools have a more cooperative…

Because rural Alaska educators were skeptical of the applicability to their teaching situations of various educational research results, researchers randomly surveyed rural Alaskan teachers to provide background information for the Rural Effective Schools Project and for educators who want to help rural schools increase their effectiveness. Three…

Thirty-seven small high schools in 22 states, ranging in enrollment from 27 to 328 students in the top 4 grades, were visited to obtain information on the outstanding aspects of their educational program, teaching methods, or physical facilities. Information was also obtained from six teachers and one administrator from seven schools in the Rocky…

The TeleLearning and Rural Education Centre was established in January 1997 at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in one of the most sparsely populated and economically depressed areas of Canada. Of 462 schools in Newfoundland and Labrador, 66 percent are rural and over half have enrollments of under 200 students. The Centre was established to…

Provides examples of schools and districts nationwide that use data-based decision making effectively to enhance beginning teacher induction, multi-age reading classes, literacy education, tracking of student achievement, ongoing staff development, and school discipline efforts. The programs share a commitment to putting data at the center of…

There are many myths about award-winning schools. Most attribute outstanding school success to money or luck--generous state dollars, corporate sponsorships, that one-in-a-million principal who could run a small country in his spare time. Sure, these things help, but the 20 schools that walked away with this year's Intel and Scholastic Schools of…

This curriculum unit on oceans for grades K-8 contains lesson plans, vocabulary lists, core activities, resource lists, and a student evaluation worksheet developed by rural Gallatin County, Montana, teachers as part of an inservice Rural Schools Integrated Curriculum Project administered by the Montana State University College of Education. The…

The thematic, integrated subject curriculum presented in this comprehensive teacher's guide is based on a study of Gallatin County's local history and is intended to enrich students' perceptions of their rural Montana culture, heritage, and environment, and provide them with a knowledge base for decision making about the future. Introductory…

As the world becomes more diverse socially, culturally, and economically, there are growing expectations that the individual's differences and rights will be recognized, respected, and responded to in positive ways. This book provides teachers of both multi-age and diverse single-age classrooms guidance on classroom organization, curriculum…

This multi-age integrated teaching unit on weather was developed by 19 rural teachers (grades K-8) from 12 Gallatin County (Montana) districts to associate all school subjects with a common theme, promote teaching efficiency by focusing on more than one subject at the same time, and increase student excitement. Topics explored by each grade level…