The four issues of "SKOLE" published in 1996 include articles about alternatives to public education, the value of free schools and home-schooling, and children's learning experiences. Feature articles include profiles of alternative schools and educational programs; descriptions of learning experiences and teaching practices; a study of full…

Previous research in California, Alaska, and West Virginia has suggested that school or school district size may influence student achievement indirectly by mediating the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on achievement. The Matthew Project is replicating the key analyses of the West Virginia study in four strategically chosen states: Georgia,…

This paper argues that social, political, and economic circumstances provide better explanations of rural school consolidation than the advertised curricular, pedagogical, or administrative benefits. Modern views of schooling over recent decades emphasize economic development and the need to improve international competitiveness. There is a…

This case study examines how rural K-12 single-unit schools in Vermont have responded to the twin pressures of higher state-level standards, required under the 1984 Public School Approval (PSA) policy, and limited fiscal resources. Chapter 1 provides background information on the study population, economic and educational conditions in Vermont,…

The article discusses the educational situation in Queensland and offers an alternative to the present open education plan. It suggests: that traditional education is appropriate for teaching basic skills, as in specific areas of mathematics where one level of mastery may depend on certain knowledge at a lower level; that curricula which are…

This evaluation summary synthesizes the results of the first year of the Wisconsin Rural Reading Improvement Project (WRRIP), a project aimed at helping small, rural schools improve reading instruction by teaching reading as thinking (also termed "strategic reading"). The means used is staff development: specifically, a leadership team…

"Making good things better" was the theme of the 1985 AASA Small School District Administrators' Conference. The keynote speaker listed four efforts school leadership should take: encouraging people to change, accelerating the growth of people, setting organizational goals, and continuing personal growth. A full day of the conference focused on…

This document was developed as part of a Research and Innovation Project by a Department of Defense Dependents School (DoDDS) Media Task Group in West Germany. Designed to provide a ready reference for noncertified personnel working in small school media centers, the monthly calendars (August through June) are intended to encourage an active…

This study assessed the second year of a 5-year project--the Carroll Instructional Television Consortium--which uses two-way interactive cable television (both audio and video) as an alternative method of delivering courses in four small rural high schools in Illinois. Specific evaluation questions investigated the instructional effectiveness of…

Using the Biomedical Sciences Preparatory Program (BioPrep) for illustration, this paper discusses an approach to educational improvement through the development of curriculum that emphasizes experiential learning and the involvement of students in real-life problems. Opening sections describe BioPrep, a program designed to prepare rural high…

This proceedings record contains 87 presentations, including 65 complete or edited transcripts and 22 abstracts. Eighteen papers address the conference theme of creative collaboration, describing cooperative agreements between universities and school districts to provide enhanced high school curricula, college preparation courses, and…

This paper reports a study of curriculum and teaching methods in 10 Old Order Mennonite one-room schools in Pennsylvania. It provides a review of the historical background and cultural characteristics of the Old Order Mennonites. The one-room schools examined in the study are similar in structure and instruction to U.S. public one-room schools of…

The Old Order Amish community is a unique minority group that does not receive adequate public school services. While a majority of Amish children attend an estimated 470 Amish parochial elementary schools, some Amish enrollment is in small rural public schools. However, six states with large Amish populations have no significant public school…

Little information exists to provide an accurate portrait of education in small rural schools, including staff development practices and needs in such schools. The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory conducted a review of literature and a survey of rural educators in the Southwest concerning staff development in their schools. The survey…

The purpose of a study was to determine if offering jointly administered vocational programs shows a significant, positive cost-benefit relationship over not offering vocational courses. Emphasis was on smaller rural school districts that may not otherwise be able to support a total full-time program. Nine factors listed by Thomas and Peterson…