Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) serves the 21 counties of rural northeastern North Carolina. In Fall 2000 ECSU administrators met with educators in area school districts to discuss their professional development needs. This paper reports on those expressed needs relevant to mathematics education and discusses ways to help achieve excellence…

East Feliciana Parish (Louisiana) has raised achievement scores by involving students in hands-on projects related to community needs and resources. Project Connect, a hands-on science and math program begun by the Delta Rural Systemic Initiative, has expanded into a comprehensive place-based program. In response to new state standards, teams of…

This publication combines three papers on rural and urban youth issues. "Key Issues Facing Rural Youth" (Daniel F. Perkins) notes that rural adolescents share the same concerns and exhibit the same problem behaviors as their urban counterparts. But in addition, geographic isolation presents problems unique to rural areas. A framework is proposed…

This document focuses on ways that Australian Aboriginal parents and communities can get involved in schools. It reflects the recommendation given to the Australian Parliament by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) concerning the rights of Indigenous communities to self-determination within the education system. Chapters are…

For over 30 years, Foxfire has been developing an approach to learning that is learner-centered and community-focused. Foxfire's initial success resulted from a successful student-produced magazine in a rural Georgia high school. Attempts to duplicate this success often overlooked the key ingredients, student choice and academic integrity, that…

This theme issue of Basic Education contains five articles on rural schools. "Small Schools: A Political Irony" (Marty Strange) notes the current enthusiasm among education reformers for small schools and the evidence of their effectiveness. Given this context, the question is posed as to why rural communities where small schools are…

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…

This document describes a curriculum model that aims to help students gain a sense of stewardship toward their community and an appreciation for their heritage. At the Sense of Place Symposium, Iowa teachers and administrators worked together to develop an interdisciplinary curriculum framework that would connect students to their communities. The…

This proceedings of a conference focusing on the school-community relationship contains eight papers. "A Changing Rural America: The Context for School/Community Development" compares community development with economic development and offers suggestions for rural schools to participate in community development. "Integrating the…

This collection of papers examines proven strategies for assessing and managing high-risk behaviors while promoting healthy adolescent self-esteem among urban secondary school students. Part 1, "Problems in Urban Schoolchild Discipline," includes: (1) "Behavior Problems in Urban Schoolchildren" (Nancy R. Macciomei) and (2)…

In this anthology, rural Alaskan English teachers in the Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network describe their experiences implementing new state education standards while continuing their commitment to learner-centered and place-based practice. The book presents narratives about teaching grounded in knowledge and understanding of students and…

Nine rural Vermont schools committed to linking to their local communities are participating in an ongoing study of how manifest curricula (what is taught) and latent curricula (how classes are taught and schools are governed) influence development of student dispositions toward democratic participation. This paper presents preliminary findings…

The Annenberg Rural Challenge locates and funds exemplary rural public school programs to serve as models for rural education reform. The guiding theory of the Rural Challenge is that when rural schools base their teaching on the economy, ecology, history, and culture of their communities while fully engaging the community in the school's work,…

Visits to rural indigenous communities in Oaxaca (Mexico) exposed Vermont teachers and university students to cultures that recognize the interconnectedness of life and caused them to reflect on how different cultural patterns promote or hinder ecologically sustainable living. The communities' efforts to incorporate their culture and language into…

Fifty-one years of working in Appalachia on land resettlement and preservation of local values have taught Marie Cirillo the importance of not thinking in terms of either/or. It is not science/technology versus indigenous knowledge; it is how one connects the two so there can be proper balance. It is not capital versus labor; it is not…