The school district is the fundamental administrative unit of schooling in the United States and the superintendent the lead official. The nature and the challenges of this position, however, vary across the landscape. Because most superintendents lead rural districts, the challenges facing those districts are the ones that typically bedevil the…

This article defines historical and contemporary rural schools, outlines three sociological and political economy perspectives essential for understanding why school consolidation and rural school reform are abiding themes in rural America, and examines the political and economic context of a vigorous new school consolidation program in West…

Researchers and other persons interested in promoting research about rural school busing met in Columbus, Ohio, in December 1998. Drawing on that meeting and the rural school literature, this report describes why school transportation is an important issue nationwide, explains the lack of research on rural school busing, proposes a research…

This report summarizes a series of studies on school size, poverty, and student achievement. These studies analyzed 29 sets of test scores from various grades in Georgia, Ohio, Montana, and Texas to examine the relationship between school-level performance on tests, school size, and community poverty level. The studies found that as schools become…

This paper argues that social, political, and economic circumstances provide better explanations of rural school consolidation than the advertised curricular, pedagogical, or administrative benefits. Modern views of schooling over recent decades emphasize economic development and the need to improve international competitiveness. There is a…

A research agenda was developed to examine effects of rural school busing on rural children, families, and communities. The agenda addresses the history, politics, and financing of rural school busing; social, cultural, health, and safety considerations; geographic justice and school distribution; relationship to consolidation; influences on…

The history of statutory and case law pertinent to school reorganization reflects the elaboration of state authority over education during the development of the American Republic. This article considers the legal right of the state to define and redefine the territory served by administrative units that provide direct services to students. Public…

Details the legal historical influences at work on behalf of the state's authority to establish, revise, and disestablish schools and districts. Speculates on the future of the territorial basis of mass education, in light of legal battles of the past and present and the postmodern development of educational technology. (Author/KS)