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 interprets inequality evident at the intersection of three realms: (a) mathematical talent (as a cultural phenomenon); (b) rural place and rural life; and (c) future economic, political, and ecological developments. The discussion explains this outlook on inequality, contextualizes interest in rural mathematics education, presents the…

This essay considers the intellectual engagement of rural people in the context of their schooling. It argues that rural schooling shares the miseducative purposes common to American schooling in general (i.e., purposes associated with sustaining American global economic dominion). It frames rurally appropriate education as an on-the-ground…

Addresses the challenge of placing mathematics knowledge in context through a critical interpretation of math teaching and learning, discussion of what constitutes math knowledge, and examination of the effect of rural context. Presents principles for rural math education research, related to knowledge and context, the institution of schooling,…

Critiquing arguments from the "small school" movement in cities such as New York and Chicago, this paper provides a basis for making sense of the apparent divergence in policies governing schooling structures in rural and urban places. Its interpretation examines the way the urban small schools movement works to valorize (and hence draw support…

This digest examines the best evidence available on mathematics achievement in rural schools and offers recommendations for further research. Findings on the mathematics achievement of secondary students are presented, based on analyses of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in 1996 and 2000, the Longitudinal Study of American…

According to the definition that a rural school district is one in which 75% or more of the population lives outside Standard Metropolitan Areas or in which student density is equal to or less than 10 pupils per square miles, 36 or 65% of West Virginia's 55 counties are classified as rural. State school policies do not specifically recognize the…

The traditional relationships between rural and urban areas and the changes brought on by specialized rural industries discussed. The digest reviews work that has investigated the impact of farming, manufacturing, and mining on education. The effect of agricultural activity on academic achievement, especially via vocational agriculture programs,…

This paper addresses philosophical and ethical issues regarding school-to-work issues in public education. The purpose of school-to-work programs is to help students obtain employment. This paper asserts that schools should prepare students for work, but the concept of "work" entails much more than just securing employment.…

This paper examines issues in rural education related to aims, curriculum, and finance. It questions the notion that educational restructuring is necessary for the purpose of improving economic competitiveness. Wigginton, a rural educator, proposes that the aims of education should be: (1) to provide a firm grounding in the basic skills; (2) to…

A review of research yields nine conclusions concerning mathematics achievement among rural and urban students. Among them are that currently a national rural vs. non-rural mathematics achievement gap does not exist; at the state level, a rural vs. non-rural achievement gap exists in 40 percent of the states, and that gap is evenly split between…