Microcomputers were introduced into the Scotia Union School District in rural northern California in 1979 when the district superintendent-principal proposed using part of a "forest reserve grant" from the United States Forest Service in California to purchase two microcomputers, one for use in the special education classroom and the…

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) is seeking better ways to deliver appropriate services to small districts, since many ADE services tend to be of most benefit to larger districts. Small school districts in Arizona often have great distances between schools, personnel filling multiple roles, special budgetary constraints, limited range of…

The consolidation of 42 federal education programs into block grants, under the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981, will have varied effects that might help or hurt rural or small schools. Legislatures and district superintendents are presently unsure what to do with the block grants, since they are used to more specific federal…

Legislation from all states employing a geographical isolation factor in calculating revenue for public school districts is summarized in this paper. The inclusion of a geographical isolation factor in a state's distribution formula for state aid is a mechanism for providing additional revenue to small schools or school districts that, because of…

To determine the core curriculum and the specific curriculum needs of small high schools today, questionnaires were mailed to a sample of 475 public high schools with enrollments of less than 500 students. Principals were asked to indicate which of 105 courses listed on the questionnaire were in their school's curriculum and to rate the need for…

The product of an Ad-Hoc Committee formed to assess the future of the Rennselaerville primary school in Rensselaerville, New York, this document describes the way in which a small school has developed a "partnership" agreement with the larger Greenesville School District and has managed to keep its primary grades operative in the face of…

Utilizing data compiled from records of 33 students who had completed Algebra I in 1974 and 1976, the study examined the California Algebra Aptitude Test (CAAT) and other possible predictors of success for freshmen students entering Algebra I in a small rural high school. The CAAT and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) were taken by these…

This report presents a study of Bradford (Ohio) High School, a four-year school of 200-300 students that has experienced significant recent declines in grades 11 and 12 enrollment as many students have begun attending a nearby Joint Vocational School. Primary purpose of the study is to aid school officials in learning what draws Bradford students…

Rural school districts must cope with problems of finance, energy, teacher recruitment, and curriculum. The Pawnee Heights School District (Kansas) has dealt with all of these. Concerning finance, Pawnee Heights has taken advantage of several federal programs including CETA, Title I, Career Education, and Title III; it has filed an application for…

Developed by primary teachers and elementary principals from small districts in Snohomish and Island counties in Washington, this handbook contains sequenced student learning objectives for grades K-3 in the curriculum areas of reading, language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Each student learning objective is correlated to the…

Chief state school officers in all 50 states were surveyed to gather information regarding the various states' funding arrangements for small and/or isolated rural schools and to develop a financial planning tool for use by state legislators and boards of education. Data were gathered from every state except Hawaii. Twenty-eight states had some…

CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION IN THE TEXAS SMALL SCHOOLS PROJECT WERE PRESENTED. THE CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION INCLUDED A TOTAL SCHOOL ENROLLMENT OF 500 OR LESS, MEETING ACCREDITATION STANDARDS, EXPRESSING AN INTEREST IN IMPROVING THEIR SCHOOL PROGRAMS, AND BEING WILLING TO COOPERATE WITH OTHER PROJECT MEMBERS. OUTLINES OF THE GOALS AND POLICIES OF…

After summarizing the current literature regarding potential school organizational structures and practices, this report outlined the process that was developed and utilized by four small rural school districts in southern Minnesota in 1980. Emphasis was on maintaining local school districts which cooperated with other schools through an…

In an attempt to bring art instruction into small schools financially unable to support such a program, 11 high schools in 4 western states have been receiving simultaneous instruction in art from a central source with the aid of an amplified telephone and coordinated overhead transparencies. Before the onset of classes, the instructor visits each…

A political writer presents the case for maintaining small schools in Minnesota and not entering into drastic consolidation of school districts as recommended by the Domian Report. Small School superintendents' replies to a survey, results of educational studies and reports, the work of small school projects, and quotations from prominent…