In the Federal Census of 1910, 58.5 per cent of the population of the United States from 6 to 20 years of age, both inclusive, are classed as rural, which means that nearly three-fifths of the total American school population live in the open country, or in villages and small towns, under rural conditions. The total rural population of this class at the time this census was taken was 16,230,406. By the end of the current school year it should be approximately 17,000,000. The education of these children and young people, and of the other millions who follow after them as the years go by and who are to make up the bulk of the population, rural and urban alike, in the near future, is the most important problem of those States having a large rural population, and the most important interest of the nation as a whole. One of the most important factors in the education of these children is the rural school. which for this reason must be reckoned among the most important factors of national life and civilization, and the improvement of which should be a chief concern. Until very recently, few careful studies of the rural schools have been made, and little accurate information is available about them or the factors influencing their improvement. It is known in a general way that their terms are short, their support inadequate, their management unscientific and wasteful of money, time, and energy, their courses of study ill-adapted to their needs, and the houses in which the children are taught cheap and poorly equipped and furnished. With the help of recent appropriations made by Congress, the Bureau of Education has undertaken to make a careful study of the conditions and needs of the rural schools of the several States, with the hope of being able to make some definite contributions toward the solution of the problem of their improvement. Topics covered in this bulletin include the following: (1) Urban and rural school data on the 2,500 population basis; (2) The one-teacher country school; (3) Three essentials for efficiency lacking in rural schools; (4) The status of the rural teaching force; (5) Status of the supervision of rural schools; and (6) Units of organization for the management of rural schools. (Contains 12 tables, 13 plates, and 3 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]