This "Informed Educator" examines the use of small learning communities to address the disadvantages of large, comprehensive schools in a cost effective manner. The different types of small learning communities are described, and the research on both small schools and small learning communities is discussed. Lastly, issues that should be addressed…

This article describes how the Coalition of Essential Schools Northwest/Small Schools Project (CESNW/SSP) works with schools and districts to help them shape and then implement a coherent strategy that will lead to a redesigned high school system. The author highlights efforts taking place in two multiple high school districts: (1) Cascades School…

For nearly a decade, the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative (CHSRI) has worked to improve educational opportunities for Chicago adolescents by opening and supporting small high schools across the city. While the overall results of the initiative have been mixed, several CHSRI schools have successfully improved students' outcomes. This latest…

Zions First National Bank in Utah adopted a local school in Garrison with a student body of 11, and invited them to participate in their Christmas tree program and a field trip to Salt Lake City. The venture proved so popular and rewarding for the children and bank staff that more field trips were funded and later, when the school burned down, the…

Describes faculty designed program to provide individualized basic education for each of 116 grade 4, 5, and 6 students in Bigelow, Arkansas, as well as daily opportunities for enrichment through community resource persons. Summarizes community involvement, educational considerations, evaluation efforts, recommendations, and limitations. (NEC)

Explains how interactive television is expanding course offerings in two remote, sparsely populated Northern Michigan school districts (Cheboygan and Mackinaw City), how interactive television works, and how the programs were made operational in less than two years. Offers reflections about the program and plans for expansion. (NEC)

This report examines the issues, needs, and strategies related to professional development in small, rural schools in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Information was gathered by a survey, a series of rural education forums, and case study interviews. Respondents of the survey and participants of forums were legislators, practitioners,…

Explains how schools, regardless of size, can provide ongoing and innovative programs for professional growth. (JM)

A Nevada program under the auspices of the Western States Small Schools Project and aimed at providing "enjoyment" reading for small rurally disadvantaged schools is described in this report. Included in this program description are: (1) Introduction (a description of the rural, low-income, target population); (2) The Proposal (states…

The concern of this paper is the problem of overcrowding in large city schools and its effect on human behavior and student achievement. It opens with a discussion of psychological and sociological research on animals that has implications for humans in overcrowded environments. Also discussed are teacher-student relationships and administrator…

The examination of career education preparation needs specifically for teachers in rural or small schools was conducted by teacher education faculty at Eastern Oregon State College and the faculty of a school district in rural northeast Oregon. Imbler School District, which opted for an infusion approach to career education rather than a separate…

The Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (BayCES) has been working to build the capacity of people to transform the educational experiences and outcomes of underserved students in the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Area for more than 15 years. BayCES supports people in urban districts and schools undergoing reform efforts to improve their…

During a 1979-1980 pilot project, 13 nine-week residencies by professional artists were sponsored in 10 eastern Oregon school districts with Eastern Oregon State College serving as liaison, the Northwest Area Foundation of St. Paul (Minnesota) contributing $33,500, and participating school districts adding a total of $8,000 in funding. This low…

Small, sometimes multi-cultural, rural schools need specialized preservice teacher education programs to prepare teachers. After outlining the classroom, school, and sociocultural characteristics affecting a teacher's success and survival in a rural community, this paper discusses the apparent lack of rural content in teacher preparation programs…

Associating the personnel turnover in the small, rural public schools of Willcox, Arizona with implementation of a plan for change under the National Institute of Education's Experimental Schools Program (1973), this paper attempts to explain staff turnover in terms of the anthropological concept "world view" as manifest in…