"Small Schools and Savings" rebuts the presumption that capital costs of school planning and construction render small schools uncompetitively expensive. Specific options are outlined that can help small schools be cost effective. The false logic of borrowing economies-of-scale arguments from the factory model and applying them to…

For several years at the Rural and Small Schools Conference, a special effort has been made to address the needs that are unique to rural science educators. This publication is a compilation of materials presented at those conferences reflecting the following themes: "In Search of Excellence" (1985); "Rural Education: A Proud…

This study describes how some school districts have implemented full motion, two-way interactive video in rural small schools and communities. A prototype and guidelines for future implementation are presented. Researchers studied 14 school districts in the Oklahoma Panhandle and eastern New Mexico and three sites in Texas where the technology has…

Strong local communities are the best habitat for excellence in education, and education is the responsibility of the whole community. Setting high academic standards and achieving against those standards is an important educational objective, but the quest for higher standards can be exploited to serve other purposes. This statement sets out the…

A cooperative project between a university and local school district can be understood using a theoretical framework defining social roles in terms of the "natural" (or individual) person and the "corporate" actor. The project sent a university team to train counselors and teachers in a rural, predominantly Native American…

This report tells the stories of 44 rural science and mathematics teachers who have been initiating and leading change in their classrooms and communities. Each has participated in the Science and Mathematics Academies for Rural Teachers (SMART), which: (1) recognizes and rewards outstanding science and mathematics teachers in small rural schools…

This document provides an overview of the Regional Educational Laboratory operated by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL) during 1986-1990. AEL staff works with educators in ongoing research and development-based efforts to improve education and educational opportunity in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Part I of the…

Two 1980 surveys of school staff, team member interviews, and examination of project films and documents supplied information for final evaluation of the ROCTAPUS (Really Outstanding Color Television About Practically Unlimited Subjects) program, a closed-circuit, magazine format, videotaped, television series intended to enrich the experiential…

The National Conference on Rural Education, a major event in the 1979 calendar of the Education Department of Western Australia, was held under the auspices of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Educationalists, government, and community representatives…

A New Mexico study interviewed 1 special education teacher and 1 administrator from each of 17 small rural school districts, via a 65-item interview guide related to staff development needs. Lack of staff development activities was identified as a critical problem for special educators. Training in instructional technology was the most frequently…

Information on 44 small/rural K-12 Nebraska school districts (900 students or fewer) is compared to data from 642 similar districts nationwide, using material gathered during 1982-83. Of the nation's 15,601 public school districts, 4,125 (26.4%) were identified as qualifying for the survey; 76.4% (249 districts, enrolling 76,516 students) of…

The study compared nationwide research findings about the districts, superintendents, teachers, programs, and student performance in 642 public school districts with an enrollment of 900 or less to data from a random sample of school districts of similar size in Oklahoma. Data were gathered from superintendents by questionnaire during the 1982-83…

The study compared nationwide research findings about the districts, supervisors, teachers, programs, and student performance in 642 public school districts with an enrollment of 900 or less to data from a random sample of school districts of similar size in Oregon. Data were gathered from superintendents by questionnaire during the 1982-83 school…

The study compared nationwide research findings about the districts, superintendents, teachers, programs, and student performance in 642 public school districts with an enrollment of 900 or less to data from a random sample of school districts of similar size in Texas. Data were gathered from superintendents by questionnaire during the 1982-83…

The study compared nationwide research findings about the districts, superintendents, teachers, programs, and student performance in 642 public school districts with an enrollment of 900 or less to data from a random sample of school districts of similar size in Washington. Data were gathered from superintendents by questionnaire during the…