Northeastern South Dakota's country schools are examined in this volume of the Mountain Plains Library Association's eight-state research effort to locate and preserve information related to country schools. Rural school buildings are discussed in the broad social and historical context that shaped their form and style. Both national trends in rural school design and the state's economic and political environment are considered. The use of the schoolhouse for activities other than teaching is described as it varied according to the size of the community it served, its remoteness from a village or town, the existence of a church, and the standards of the community as to what was acceptable social activity in a schoolhouse. The origin, age, sex, education, experience, wages, and conditions of employment of teachers in country schools and their methods of maintaining discipline are traced. Aspects of the rural school curriculum, typical teaching methodologies, time spent in school, and the Young Citizens League are outlined. Aspects of the rural schools' role in the assimilation of the children of immigrant ethnic groups into the majority culture (English as the language of instruction, efforts following World War I, and Hutterites) are explored. (NEC)