It is now widely recognized that small schools are more productive and effective than larger schools. Yet, public officials and professional educators in many rural areas continue to believe that small schools are inefficient and ineffective, a way of thinking reflected in closed schools, angry residents, and long bus rides for students. About a…

Fourche Valley School District in central Arkansas has a single K-12 school serving 157 students. Surrounded by the Ouachita National Forest, Fourche Valley is unusually isolated and lacking in economic opportunity, leading to "low aspirations" among students who desire to remain in the area. Nevertheless, the school is thriving in the…

Organization and information resources are presented to help community and school district leaders sustain and improve small high schools. Contact information and brief descriptions are provided for 11 organizations that either have a significant direct influence on educational policymaking or assemble knowledge and information helpful to efforts…

Annual elementary school surveys have tracked the effects of funding and policy changes on Ontario's publicly funded education system since the funding formula was introduced in 1997. In 2002-03, surveys were received from 886 public, Catholic, and French-language schools, representing 22 percent of Ontario's elementary schools and 71 of 72…

Recent research in West Virginia and California has linked school size to both effectiveness and equity, finding that as school size increased, the mean achievement costs for schools with less-advantaged students became more burdensome. An effort was undertaken to replicate this research in four states offering a variety of school settings and…

Describes Aspen School District's (Colorado) outdoor educational program for all students in grades K-12, focusing on the middle school students' experiences in the Outdoor Education Program. Through these experiences, children (grades 5-8) grow in self-worth, abilities, and emotional attachments; they develop a trust level toward other children…

Aspen High School's (Colorado) Experiential Education Week, developed to provide a "real-world" experience for students from a small, mountain, tourist-oriented community, is planned by both student and faculty; the whole process encourages both self-reliant and responsible students and develops positive student-teacher and peer…

Guidance Associates provide a viable means of at least partially resolving many of the staffing and program problems facing many of the smaller school districts in Texas. Guidance Associates provide a means by which both the instructional and guidance needs of schools to educate the "whole child" may be enhanced. (Author/LC)

Discusses nine major characteristics of rural schools which affected their willingness to accept change, as revealed in a study of the five-year Rural Experimental Schools Program. Available from: Rural Sociological Society, 325 Morgan Hall, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37916. (NEC)

In describing the primary school reorganization controversy in Gwynedd, Wales, the author emphasizes the ideological positions of the opposing groups: the rural contingent favored small village schools closely tied to the community and to Welsh culture; the urban-based, technocratically-minded group preferred cost-effective consolidated schools.…

Schools as well as teachers are under threat in Oxfordshire. Author visits one of the small village schools whose future has been questioned. (Editor/RK)

Solid research evidence links smaller schools to fewer discipline problems, lower dropout rates, higher student participation levels, and steadier academic progress. Large buildings are no obstacle. Creating small schools requires top administrators to lend impetus and support, facilitate teacher volunteer groups, develop clear policies, adjust…

Many Americans view today's youth as menacing. Actually, a small percentage are arrested or incarcerated for violent offenses, only 5% are arrested for anything, adults commit 86% of all crimes, and teenage male violence is a long-standing phenomenon. However, youth homicide is a gun-fueled epidemic. Educators must resist legislators'…

In this article, five high schools are examined that successfully meet the needs of gifted and talented students through innovative curricular programs, which feature small learning communities and supportive structures such as small advisory groups, real world connections, authentic assessment, and teachers who facilitate learning. (Contains…

Outlines a model for development of a special physical education program, emphasizing methods that capitalize on strengths of small and rural schools. Discusses formation of a strategic planning team, assignment of special physical education staff, development of integrated instructional programing, relationship of regular and special education…