Data from 1982-83 random sample of K-12 public school districts under 900 students across the United States were compared with data from 13 states with largest proportion of small-rural districts. Enrollment figures and trends, district size, faculty turnover, teacher/student ratios, salaries, educational finance, academic course offerings, and…

A national study of small and large high schools was undertaken in 1984 to collect data regarding the extent of curricular offerings and then to determine whether the differences were statistically significant. Two random samples were used: the first consisted of 475 schools with enrollments of less than 400 and the second was composed of 900…

As part of a 45-state study, a self-administered questionnaire was mailed during the 1982-83 school year to 70 of Oklahoma's 237 public K-12 school districts enrolling fewer than 1,000 students; the questionnaire requested information about rural districts, teachers, students, and school programs. For the 45 responding districts, average student…

Of 105 different course offerings, 36 percent were provided at significantly higher frequencies in large high schools whereas only 2 percent were offered at significantly higher frequencies in small schools. Significant differences were noted in all foreign language and advanced placement courses surveyed and in almost one-half of…

Information available on rural education remains startlingly inadequate--partly because of the great diversity of rural areas, because agencies responsible for data collection disagree on the definition of small/rural schools, and because large metropolitan schools have received far more than their share of attention, research, and financial…