Review of four articles on nonmetropolitan trends suggests that (1) access to adequate education and other services should be ensured regardless of locale; (2) urban-rural dichotomies are politically useless; and (3) rural schools and communities should pursue locally defined goals. A coherent comprehensive rural policy is needed that values…

Analyzes the debate over closure of a rural Pennsylvania high school and consolidation with a much larger school in the state's geographically largest school district. Discusses parent survey results, which highlight the enduring social tension between the centralizing efforts of governing bodies and the interests of local communities in…

In 1985, Illinois adopted state legislation supporting school district mergers. In one rural district studied, local opposition to consolidation was based on self-interest, ideologies of localism and traditionalism, and (to a lesser extent) research information. Implications for policymakers and the complexity of the "local control"…

A year-long ethnographic investigation examined how stakeholders in an Appalachian Kentucky high school addressed educational problems that they had targeted for reform while resisting state priorities and policies mandated in the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA). Contrasts KERA objectives with cultural themes prominent in this poor…