A mini-conference on rural schools and community development brought together experts in rural community, rural education, and economic development to brainstorm ideas for collaborative projects and produce a helpful conceptual design for use both by rural communities and their schools. This document offers a synthesis and overview of the experts'…

Addressing the "death of hope" in rural Nebraska during the 1980s farm crisis, the "School at the Center" project engages rural schools and communities in active learning projects: housing or historic-building repair, environmental repair, microenterprise development, exploration of local cultural heritage, and technology…

Rural schools traditionally have played a central role in their communities. Now, as rural communities face declining quality of life and threats to their viability, collaborative partnerships between communities and schools offer a promising approach to community revitalization and survival. Researchers have identified three distinct, yet related…

Many rural communities share these complaints: (1) an exodus of the best and brightest young people; (2) a changing and ambivalent self-concept about the identity and the future of the community; and (3) a scarcity of good jobs to act as the mortar that bonds the other elements together. The South Dakota Rural Schools and Community Development…

This is the first of a series of issue papers that discuss ways in which rural communities and schools can work together to guarantee their students the best education possible. By working together, rural schools and communities can not only improve education, but revitalize the entire community. The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory is…

This report reviews economic and social issues facing rural schools and communities in the 1990's, focusing on the mutual dependence and collaboration between communities and schools. Rural America, dependent on resource-based industries, has faced distressed economy and declining populations. With a historical overview of rural America under the…

In many rural areas, both communities and schools are threatened by decreasing population and changing economic conditions. To boost both the local economy and student achievement, a growing number of rural schools are turning to entrepreneurial education. In school entrepreneurship programs, students create small businesses under the guidance of…

A significant theme in the literature on rural education is the extreme interdependence between rural schools and rural communities. Belief in this interdependence has led to a number of initiatives focused on strengthening both student learning and the local community's economic and social resources. Most of these initiatives involve some degree…

This report explores issues related to expanding the roles of schools and youth in rural community development. It is suggested that rural schools, when working in partnership with local leaders and residents, can have a positive impact on community viability. The report is based on a project involving a partnership between a local school system…

Available in English or Spanish, this resource guide aims to help rural schools and communities learn ways of supporting each other so that both can thrive. Background information and basic tools are provided for starting a joint school-community development effort. Chapters contain: (1) outline of the guide and statement of beliefs about…

A community-based education program enables rural communities to meet needs and solve problems by utilizing the total community environment and its human resources. Components of this program are: (1) expanded use of school facilities; (2) lifelong learning and enrichment programs; (3) interagency coordination, cooperation, and collaboration; (4)…

Explores issues related to expanding the roles of rural schools and youth in community development; summarizes literature related to community development and social capital; reports on how three rural Midwest communities built linkages between the school and community; reports on data from a symposium on community-based learning; and addresses…

In an attempt to reveal the many external influences (e.g., economic, social, and spiritual) affecting a rural community and to bring about understanding of the evolving complex society of the rural-urban community brought about by advanced technology, the American Country Life Association's annual conference dealt with some of the parameters…

This paper describes how rural school districts can use educational technology to evolve into learning communities that meet the learning needs of all community members. The story of a fictitious small rural school district illustrates how the role of education can be expanded through technology. The superintendent developed a distance education…