Since the early 1990s, the majority of school-aged children in Texas have been non-White. The 1995 Texas legislature authorized the use of cumulative voting in school districts as a result of lawsuits prompted by the underrepresentation of minority groups on school boards. In cumulative voting, each voter has a number of votes equal to the number…

As many as 40 percent of America's school-aged children are at-risk of failure within the current educational system. Many factors outside of school, such as poverty and debilitating parent and family influences, contribute to student failure. Within the school, the most effective factor of intervention for at-risk students is the individual…

This paper examines school, family, and community factors related to the academic success of economically disadvantaged Appalachian students. In two middle schools in Appalachian Kentucky and Tennessee, 245 students who received free or reduced-price school lunches completed the Rural School Success Inventory (RSSI) and a writing sample about…

The history of statutory and case law pertinent to school reorganization reflects the elaboration of state authority over education during the development of the American Republic. This article considers the legal right of the state to define and redefine the territory served by administrative units that provide direct services to students. Public…

Beginning in the mid-1960s, thousands of small alternative schools sprang up across the United States and Canada. These schools varied widely in programs and policies, but common factors among them were a disenchantment with conventional schooling, a desire to reform education, and (frequently) the belief that schools should be controlled by the…

Rural schools present unique challenges for school administrators, challenges that require knowledge of various skills in a range of disciplines. This book touches nearly every aspect of rural school leadership. It aims to help educational leaders in small or rural schools better understand their role, and to help all educators learn elements of…

This paper describes computer and distance-education technologies in the South Western Educational Region of Queensland (Australia). The South Western Region is characterized by isolation, small schools, high teacher and principal turnover, teacher and principal inexperience, student mobility, pockets of social and economic deprivation, and many…

This report presents data on enrollments, levies, budgets, costs per pupil, and teacher salaries in 82 of Montana's 98 small rural (Class "C") school districts for fiscal year 1993-94. The average enrollment was 143 students in elementary schools and 68 students in high schools. Costs per pupil to the general fund budget without special…

In 1991 West Virginia's governor announced a 10-year statewide plan that would close 245 schools, primarily in poor, small, and rural communities, and replace them with larger, more "efficient," more urban facilities. The controversy surrounding West Virginia school closings stems from the clash of two sets of beliefs and values. The…

This selective annotated bibliography of rural education in Canada contains 235 citations of books, government documents, journal articles, and ERIC documents available at the Brandon University library. The list is not exhaustive, but is intended to highlight activities, events, writings, and projects concerned with rural education in Canada.…

Since 1965, Washington has recognized that small schools need special financial consideration if their students are to receive educational opportunities comparable to those in larger districts. In 1977, after school districts brought suit against the state for failing fully to fund basic education, the state legislature passed the Basic Education…

This ERIC digest presents an overview of small-scale schooling in an international context; examines demographic data, staffing problems, and incentives used in other nations; and points out the distinctive characteristics and unique value and potential of small schools in both industrialized and developing nations. Rural school populations remain…

There are many advantages of small schools: community acceptance, innovative teachers, faculty input in school administration, and a family atmosphere; however, smaller schools also have problems such as fewer staff members, little choice of teachers by students, fewer approaches to teaching, little use of specialists, and fewer books and…

Rural gifted programs should be developed by the consumers in rural communities and should focus on the needs and strengths of the community. The unique aspects of rural schools should be used to develop defensible community-based programs. General gifted education procedures, such as developing peer groups and psychologically secure environments,…

Six teachers from small and rural schools throughout the Northeast were selected as the 1990-91 Laboratory Fellows by the Regional Laboratory for Educational Improvement of the Northeast and Islands. These teachers were chosen for their exceptional strategies for incorporating multilevel grouping in their classrooms, grades 6-12. This publication…