Rural economic development presents a paradox of growth in population and jobs without corresponding improvement in local economic well-being. Four forces may impede nonmetropolitan development efforts. Growth of multiestablishment corporations makes traditional regional economic development models unrealistic. Rural industrialization is socially,…

Reviews the literature on school effectiveness, school size, and school culture. Compares characteristics of urban and rural schools, examines strengths and weaknesses, and considers policy alternatives for improving their effectiveness through restructuring school governance. (FMW)

Reviews socioeconomic impacts of rapid growth on rural areas in the western United States. Concludes that costs of development exceed benefits for some groups. Calls for research and policy initiatives to identify appropriate strategies to manage the growth and decline which are characteristic of changing rural areas. (LFL)

Analysis of current literature indicates that the process and the outcome of social studies education in rural communities is little different from that in the rest of the country. Despite the excitement surrounding the "Foxfire" program in rural Georgia and the efforts of curriculum innovators, students in rural America are likely to encounter a…

This paper reviews 20 cross-cultural studies conducted with the Defining Issues Test (DIT). All or part of the samples in the studies were non-Americans who had not been a part of the populations presented in the DIT manual. The studies were aimed at the comparison of moral reasoning structure and development across cultures. Several aspects of…

Despite the myth of Asian academic success, there is a distinction between the educational background and academic achievements of immigrant and refugee children from literate, urban, western-influenced backgrounds, and refugee children from pre-literate, rural cultures that are uninfluenced by Western technology and education. This is…

Demographic and socioeconomic conditions and changes in rural communities provide the context for education programs in such areas. Although these conditions have improved since the 1950s, they have worsened since 1980, affecting the human resource base of rural economics. Cyclical and structural changes affect--and are affected--by: (1) reduced…

Despite remarkable progress in education, China and India still face problems of massive illiteracy; lack of universal access to education; a hierarchical, elitist, examination-oriented system unrelated to economic needs and productive labor; a large number of unemployed school leavers; and dependence on foreign models, particularly at the higher…