Four hundred and two teachers of one-teacher schools responded to a questionnaire. Findings regarding teacher/student ratio, student enrollment, teacher background and education, reasons for teaching, and teacher housing and responsibilities are summarized. (MT)

This article is a first person's account of working in a rural district affected by drought, economic recession and poor levels of services. It is a facto-fictional narrative describing a typical working day in the life of Peggy, the acting CEO of quality teaching, in what is locally referred to as an NIDA district (where everyone is acting).…

Describes conditions typically facing teachers in the United States's 835 one-teacher schools, reviews drawbacks and advantages of educating children in one-room schools, discusses the dependency of such schools on community support, and assesses briefly the impact on such schools of recent trends in demographics and technology. (PGD)

The purpose of this booklet is to give beginning or first-year teachers in rural Alaskan one- or two-teacher schools some practical, effective, and useful suggestions and guidance in their teaching and living situations. Those individuals who are currently training and studying to be teachers in rural Alaska might also benefit from the…

This book describes the teaching experiences of Stella Gipson Polk, who taught in one-room schools in rural Texas. She was 16 at the time she took her first teaching job in 1918. After high school graduation, she had intended to enter a 4-year college or university. However, World War I left numerous schools without teachers as many were called…

The Isolated Schools' Project offers final-year preservice teachers the opportunity to experience teaching in a nonevaluated situation in a rural or remote part of Queensland (Australia). Two student teachers describe their three-week experiences in isolated one-room schools. (SV)

This 1987-88 study was conducted to identify, describe, and analyze the significant issues facing one of Vermont's five remaining schoolmarms. The primary subject of the study is a first-year one-room schoolteacher in a rural Vermont town. Chapter 1 offers a brief history of Vermont's one-room schools, a description of the town, the school, and…

This book presents letters, a personal narrative, and a diary relating the experiences of nine women teachers who traveled from the East to teach on western frontiers before the Civil War. During 1846-56, the National Popular Education Board recruited 600 experienced teachers from New England and New York State; trained them in Hartford,…

This ERIC digest presents an overview of small-scale schooling in an international context; examines demographic data, staffing problems, and incentives used in other nations; and points out the distinctive characteristics and unique value and potential of small schools in both industrialized and developing nations. Rural school populations remain…

This book describes the experience of a young and inexperienced teacher during 1926 in rural Marengo County, Alabama. Susie Powers Tompkins accepted her first teaching assignment to earn money to continue college after her freshman year at Alabama College. However, for Tompkins the rewards of teaching went far beyond just earning money. She found…

The characteristics of one-room rural schools in Barbour County, West Virginia, are representative of one-room rural school characteristics in general. These include building design and problems; teacher' lives and duties, certification, salaries, and training; scheduling and curriculum; games; punishments; and hot lunch programs. Since one-room…

During the 1996-97 school year, 63 one-teacher primary schools were identified in Great Britain and 54 of these were surveyed. Three of the schools surveyed were in England, 47 in Scotland, and 4 in Wales. The majority of teachers in these schools were female, married, and 40-49 years old; had over 20 years teaching experience, with 5-15 years in…

As late as 1913, half of U.S. schoolchildren were enrolled in the country's 212,000 one-room schools--the heart of American education. Although only about 428 of these schools remain in use as of 1994, the country school continues to be a powerful cultural symbol. The first section of this book examines country schools' educational and cultural…

THE AUTHOR'S ONE-YEAR RESIDENCY AS TEACHER IN A KWAKIUTL INDIAN VILLAGE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA FORMS THE BASIS OF THIS CASE STUDY. WITH EMPHASIS ON THE LIVES AND FAMILIES OF 5 SCHOOL CHILDREN, THE STUDY DEALS WITH THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF THE VILLAGE, DISINTEGRATION OF THE INDIAN CULTURE AND THE TRANSITION TOWARD THE…

This book focuses on the lives and work of women teachers in two rural California counties between 1850 and 1950. It explores the social context of teaching and what teaching meant and provided to women teachers. Chapter 1 explores the shifts between 1840 and 1930 in representations of the woman teacher in the United States. Chapter 2 discusses…