This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

This paper presents a critical qualitative account and analysis of resistance and contestation over the decision-making process in a special education program. The parties involved were four parent advocates, who formed an advocacy organization, and the school administration in a rural school district in the Midwest. A subtle but powerful bias…

In 1966, the Arkansas Education Association (AEA) presented a plan to consolidate school districts by dissolving all school districts with less than 400 students. The proposal spawned an enormous debate, and opponents organized a political action committee named the Arkansas Rural Education Association (AREA). The issues involved were: (1) the…

Principals of 62 elementary and secondary rural schools in a 20-county area of the upper Cumberland region of Tennessee were surveyed about the status of rural school facilities and their accommodation of various curricular and extracurricular offerings. Small class size was reported by 58 percent. The high incidence of Internet-operable schools…

This study examines a semester-long cooperative project between a university and local school district. A six-member Oklahoma State University faculty team worked to develop a training course for teachers at a small, rural school district of predominantly Native-American students. Conflicts and contradictions emerged during the process regarding…

A 1983 directory of resources for small and rural school districts lists resources for improving schools, national resources, foundations as funding sources, and state educational agency staff who can assist rural schools with information and technical assistance requests. The first section describes school improvement resources/projects by…

This monograph investigates issues related to the financial support of rural schools. The first section describes various state formulas and the methods used to distribute funds to rural schools. It considers questions about the adequacy of funding adjustments based on sparsity and the relationship of such adjustments to equal educational…

The study investigates the relationship of small district teacher aspirations, career patterns, residential preferences, biographic characteristics, motivations, and perceptions of organizational and community factors to teacher turnover intentions in selected small districts in New Mexico in the spring 1983. The population studied included 262…

Urging new directions for American high school education, this book outlines problems with contemporary high schools and describes the experience of small high schools (those having approximately 200 students), designed in the past 15 years, that have developed excellent and diverse alternative programs within the constraints of existing district…

As part of a 45-state study, a self-administered questionnaire was mailed during the 1982-83 school year to 70 of Oklahoma's 237 public K-12 school districts enrolling fewer than 1,000 students; the questionnaire requested information about rural districts, teachers, students, and school programs. For the 45 responding districts, average student…

This issue features a special report on a 1982-1983 study of 19 rural North Dakota high schools. The report is preceded by a brief commentary. The study provides in-depth descriptions of 7 schools and survey data from 12 others, and has sections on teachers, students, purposes and expectations, school climate and relationship with the community,…

The 1984 edition of the United States Virgin Islands School Statistical Summary presents narratives, 48 tables, and 7 graphic illustrations of education in public and private elementary and secondary schools during the 1983-84 school year. Tables provide data on the U.S. Virgin Islands demography and economy, enrollment and average daily…

The Maldives experience of constructing community schools is examined to show how other small countries may overcome the special problems faced in designing and building schools. External assistance for design, and training of national personnel qualified neither as architects or engineers, was used to make up for the lack of a permanent unit for…

This module of the staff training series deals with techniques for developing career guidance programs in three settings--the home, the community, and the school. Suggestions and experiences are outlined to help practitioners gain skill in designing career guidance practices appropriate to these environments. Home-centered career guidance…

The 1981 enactment of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act Chapter 2 (ECIA-Chapter 2), which consolidated 28 separate categorical federal aid programs into a single block grant, has had policy and fiscal impacts in Michigan. Policy debate centers on the inherent tension between equity, particularly equity defined as equal treatment of…