This publication provides a variety of information on prevention and intervention programs for rural and urban children and adolescents. Drawing from a rural sociological perspective, the introductory paper defines "rural," discusses rural-urban economic and social differences, and lists indicators of risk for rural youth. It discusses the extent…

Current developmental theory and research are inadequate in explaining the development of rural youth, but a mid-1970s study of adolescents from a small Maine community provided three patterns of growth and suggested four lessons for social service professionals who work with rural adolescents. The study of "Sawyer, Maine" (a pseudonym)…

The Cooperative Vocational Program serves 300 mentally retarded, learning disabled, and behaviorally disordered adolescents in rural Nebraska in an attempt to increase employment for the students. The project is also designed to train secondary special education resource teachers in vocational preparation. Vocational services and activities…

Conducted in 1955 and 1980, random sample interview data of 17 to 28 year-old West Germans from places of less than 5,000 inhabitants are used to support the thesis that the post-adolescent phase has been prolonged in the countryside of West Germany during these years of increasing technical and economic development. Findings indicate occupational…

Data provided by the 1981-82 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) were used to study the citizenship and social studies achievement of rural 13-year-olds. The NAEP extreme rural sample included 901 13-year-olds from schools in areas with less than 10,000 people and many farmers or farm workers in residence. School size in this sample…

A revised form of the Scale of Children's Attitudes Toward Handicaps (SCATE), which provides a breakdown of attitudes toward specific disabilities, was administered to 332 children in grades 2 through 6. The SCATE was shown to be reliable. The ranking of most positive attitudes to least was: nonhandicapped, learning disabled, hearing impaired,…

A comparative analysis of the findings of three studies involving widely varying ethnic groupings of rural youth was conducted in order to evolve a speculative frame of propositions about religion as a variable attribute of the life situation of rural youth, and to speculate about the possible significance of patterned variability in religious…

INFORMAL EDUCATION PRIMARILY INCLUDES EDUCATION FOR EVERYDAY EFFECTIVE LIVING AND DOES NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO INCLUDE COURSES FOR CREDIT AT THE HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE LEVELS. MILLIONS OF POVERTY STRICKEN PEOPLE CAN BENEFIT FROM THE TYPE OF INFORMAL EDUCATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY (OEO) IN SUCH PROGRAMS AS--(1) THE…

DEMOGRAPHIC AND GEOGRAPHIC PROBLEMS IN RURAL YOUTH EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY PROGRAMS ARE PRESENTED. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS INDICATES A HIGH PROPORTION OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY PROGRAMS SHOULD BE DIRECTED IN SUBURBAN AND RURAL AREAS OF THE NATION. TRANSPORTATION, WORK SITE AVAILABILITY, AND EXISTING HUMAN RESOURCES ARE LISTED AS MAJOR PROBLEMS…

THIS PAPER PRESENTS INFORMATION ON THE NEED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VARIETY OF ADDITIONAL SERVICES TO ENABLE OUT-OF-SCHOOL, UNEMPLOYED, RETARDED YOUTH TO BECOME BETTER PREPARED FOR THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES TO THE COMMUNITY. DIFFERENT GROUPS OF RETARDED PERSONS ARE DISCUSSED, AND A RATIONALE FOR NEEDED SERVICES IS SUGGESTED. REPORTS FROM 19 STATES…

A questionnaire was designed to survey Logan County (Kentucky) students who withdrew from school during the 1976-77 and 1977-78 school years. Of the 130 survey instruments circulated, 37 (28%) were returned. A comparison of six demographic variables, based on school records, revealed that the respondents and the original population were similar on…

Three hundred fifty representatives of agencies, business, the government, and labor met to address the issues and problems of youth employment and unemployment. Following opening addresses by Governor Joseph P. Teasdale (Missouri) and representatives of the Departments of Labor and Education, participants attended a keynote panel discussion of…

If youth employment programs for rural areas are to be successful in helping rural youth to find employment that is both desirable and developmental, the diversity of ability, skills, needs, life goals, and particular circumstances of these young people must be taken into consideration. According to a 1976 study by Kuvlesky and Edington, there is…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was designed to measure knowledge, skills, and attitudes of young Americans at various ages in 10 learning areas, and to measure educational attainment over time. Community categories used in NAEP research were High and Low Metro, Urban Fringe, Main Big City, Medium City, Small Places…

Over a period of three years a group of 510 rural children participated in a study of visual perceptions, including eye motor coordination, discernment of figures in a ground pattern, form constancy, position in space, and spatial relations, as measured by the Frostig Visual Perceptions Test. Visual perceptions of children of other cultures were…