Intended primarily for preservice and beginning teachers, this handbook can also be used by inservice teachers, school administrators, and college professors as an aid in helping new teachers meet the challenges of the opening days of the school year. The handbook begins with instructions for getting acquainted with available instructional…

Effective utilization of computer technology can help rural and small school administrators and teachers overcome problems of time, distance, sparsity in course offerings and support personnel, and unequal funding through facilitation of communication and through the potential to replicate quality instruction. Tools that have implications for…

Forming a consortium to share the financial burden of bringing microcomputer hardware and software into the schools is one way that small schools can maintain educational quality and equity in a time of rapidly increasing microcomputer technology. Six small schools in Missouri, in conjunction with the Missouri Department of Elementary and…

This study of rural schools in the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas focused on self-reported characteristics of secondary school principals as well as their leadership style. A total of 592 surveys were mailed to the identified population, of whom 462 returned completed forms. It was found that the Great Plains rural…

The unusually high rate of teacher turnover in American Indian reservation schools (up to 41% of new teachers on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation) is an ongoing source of distress to administrators, teachers, and community members. Teachers who move on tend to be young, inexperienced (four or fewer years in teaching), single, and from or…

Attention to small schools in Manitoba reflects concern for rural development, recognition of cultural pluralism, awareness of benefits of small town living, and a growing scepticism about benefits of consolidation which have led to an appreciation of traditional small school educational practices. The challenge for small school educators is to…

Justification for school district consolidation is made on the basis of either reducing cost or increasing educational quality. Some cost reduction may be realized through certain economies of scale in some consolidations but it is by no means automatic. The Illinois State Board of Education emphasizes the relationship between high school size and…

Teachers and administrators preparing for small or rural schools need better preparation in the sociological and economic factors prevalent in nonmetropolitan education. Although each geographic area has different needs, educators must be made aware of the cultural, social, and economic factors of the areas they serve. Preparation programs for…

A study of Michigan's Copper Country Intermediate School District was undertaken to identify ways nine small secondary schools with declining enrollments could increase educational opportunities for students by cooperative sharing. The 6-month study included analyzing data on each school, identifying factors which might constrain cooperative…

As revealed in personal interviews, periodicals, published and unpublished manuscripts, and school records, the teachers were the key factor in bringing education and culture to the frontier that was western South Dakota. Many teachers were girls of 16 or 17, inexperienced, hired from states to the east (Minnesota and Iowa), sight unseen.…

Written for school districts with one high school, this report is designed to help communities plan for fewer students at the high school level. The report is divided into four parts. Part I discusses the nature of the problem, the difference between elementary and high school decline, and the special case of the single high school district. Part…

Prepared for the state legislature, this document is intended to supply practical information to help law makers and educators better understand the planning processes and cooperative efforts that currently exist among the public schools in the 18 counties of southwest and central Minnesota. Parts One and Three describe the planning process that…

On-site interviews with administrators and teachers in 35 small, rural secondary schools in Oregon indicated that quality education was being provided to their students, despite the limitations of low budgets and small staff and student bodies. The study found that to provide the curriculum diversity that would meet the special needs of their…

Begun in August, 1976, the Zuni Alternative Learning Program for junior high school and high school students not attending school anywhere else focuses on reading, writing, verbal and non-verbal expression in a multicultural setting, computational skills, Zuni culture, and practical skills. The program offers courses which meet the minimum…

An assessment of school facilities and services and a survey of staff, student, and community attitudes was undertaken at the request of the Encino School Board to aid in educational planning and improvement for its small rural school which is faced with the problems of declining population (from 400 to 150 in the past 20 years), declining…