Data on rural-urban differences in access to telecommunications technology suggest that the U.S. "digital divide" is diminishing. However, major shortcomings in telecommunications infrastructure persist in rural America, and more serious barriers to rural development are related to human capital shortages. These may be resolved in some…

Comprehension of the current condition of rural education is essential to national education policy and program considerations, yet rural schools go unnoticed at the federal level because of a paucity of national rural data. The changing nature of rural population, the national mandate for equal educational opportunity, and the need for a timely…

A systematic description and evaluation of the socioeconomic conditions of nonmetropolitan United States provides important information for policymakers and researchers in rural education. This book is one of a series aimed at converting the statistics of the 1980 census into an analytical profile of major changes in U.S. life. The volume…

This paper discusses gross economic and demographic trends in rural and urban America during the past 30 years, the kinds of competitive advantages enjoyed by urban and rural regions, and insights offered by the new regional economics concerning exploitation of those advantages. The importance of agriculture has declined in rural areas, while that…

Demographic and socioeconomic conditions and changes in rural communities provide the context for education programs in such areas. Although these conditions have improved since the 1950s, they have worsened since 1980, affecting the human resource base of rural economics. Cyclical and structural changes affect--and are affected--by: (1) reduced…

Because demographic and social changes in rural communities also affect small and rural school environments, schools must consider the impact of community change and plan accordingly. Rural school administrators, who are visible and respected, know how to work with groups, and understand the local community, are well qualified to provide their…

This report builds upon the "State of the South, 1996" report by concentrating on how various segments of the region's population are faring, with special attention to gender, ethnicity, and education. States included in the regional analysis are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,…

This report analyzes 30-year trends in population, jobs, income, poverty, and education in the South, including comparisons to national trends and projections for the year 2010. The report aims to document the South's success in overcoming poverty and discrimination, draw attention to barriers that block further economic progress, and make…