In 2008, the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation began the social studies textbook adoption process. Concurrently, the Indiana State Board of Education wrote a memo encouraging schools to look at digital resources; BCSC did not hesitate. This article describes why BCSC chose to move to a digital format at the secondary level, the process…

High-poverty schools in rural areas and small towns are under attack from state policy makers who want to consolidate these schools in order to save money. In addition to calls for consolidation, rural schools also are threatened by unfair and inadequate funding formulas.

A group of teachers at Clifford Smart Middle School in Michigan's Walled Lake Consolidated School District have broken free from traditional grading in order to embrace a more meaningful grading practice. Using standards-based grading practices, they believe their grading now accurately communicates to students and parents the student's mastery…

Outlines how the district consolidated the city's seven high schools into three complexes. Includes discussion of the assignment of students, staffing changes, and the public relations program that accompanied the change. (IRT)

While metropolitan school systems are moving toward decentralization and personalized instruction, rural America is still being coerced into consolidations and district mergers. The Annenburg Rural Challenge, a force for nontraditional reform, is sponsoring bold, community-based initiatives aimed at transforming teaching and learning in genuinely…

Schoolpeople have instigated compulsory attendance laws, consolidated schools, and the superintendency to defend themselves against parents. In the nineteenth century schoolpeople castigated the poor for indifference; in this century they blame well-to-do parents for permissiveness and for having high expectations for their children. (Author/IRT)

Responding to Joe Nathan's praise of Minnesota's school choice programs in the same "Kappan" issue, this article cites teacher opinion poll deficiencies; mistaken correlations involving open enrollment, rural district cooperation, and enabling state legislation; and insufficient program implementation and evaluation data. The hidden…

Discusses certain educational, demographic, and economic trends challenging rural education and summarizes Rural Attitude Survey results. Despite consolidation efforts, rural schools are poorer and smaller than nonrural schools. Despite their marginalization by the dominant culture, rural communities have precisely the qualities valued by critics…

Schools in isolated rural areas like Braxton County, West Virginia, can emerge as learning communities and telecommuting villages. Future school mergers will be less common than consolidation of programs and services to improve access for students, their families, and the community. Technology will link schools with a global information network.…

Presents five beliefs related to the small schools versus large schools debate: Differences matter more than similarities, a large building offers more opportunities, larger schools attract better teachers and administrators, small schools reflect provincial values, and what matters most is class size. Discusses two implications for advocates of…