After an introductory section which points out that the responsibility of small and rural schools is to provide all children with a quality education, and that Boards of Education must decide what is best for all children in the community, the paper briefly describes 16 exemplary programs involving cooperation between school districts. The…

This study was undertaken to assess the condition of school facilities in rural and small school districts in the 50 states and analyze the mechanisms used by rural and small school districts to finance capital outlay. The study is part of an ongoing effort to address concerns specific to rural and small schools in the United States. The focus of…

This multi-age integrated teaching unit on weather was developed by 19 rural teachers (grades K-8) from 12 Gallatin County (Montana) districts to associate all school subjects with a common theme, promote teaching efficiency by focusing on more than one subject at the same time, and increase student excitement. Topics explored by each grade level…

Designed to help principals in rural and small schools, this volume contains 29 articles under the three broad headings of new possibilities in everyday practice, applications of recent research, and initiatives to help schools and communities grow. The editors' introduction notes the challenges facing small school administrators, the problems…

This manual describes details for organizing and implementing the Homebound/Cluster-ABE (adult basic education) delivery system designed to serve two to eight students in community-based settings. Participants are persons bound to communities by social, economic, emotional, or physical problems. Settings include participants' homes, local schools,…

In 1982, 46,818 students graduated from all Kentucky high schools; 23,232 (49.6%) were boys and 23,586 (50.4%) were girls. There were 42,700 students graduated from public schools, which represented 65% of the 9th grade enrollment of 1978-79. There were 4,118 students, or 8.8% of the state total, graduated from non-public high schools. Sixty-nine…

A series of pilot projects for small schools was developed by the Manitoba Department of Education to test new concepts that, if successful, could be replicated by other small schools. This report contains a summary of projects involving: (1) computer managed physics instruction; (2) training teachers to use computers effectively; (3) providing…

The Career Awareness Program (CAP) not only showed how improved school-community relations impact on quality instruction and student growth, but also resulted in identification of variables which affect curriculum change and program development in small, rural schools; these variables were administrative philosophies, community attitudes and…

In 1980, the Colorado State Legislature passed legislation which enabled 12 southeastern Colorado school districts with enrollments from 30 to 330 to experiment with a 4-day school week as an alternative to reducing programs. Each district was allowed to determine which weekday its schools would not be in session, length of the school day, and…

Cultural biases about rural schools and people have influenced rural education, public policies, and distribution of funds away from areas where they are most needed. Policymakers have regarded the rural school's condition (sparsity, isolation, smallness, limited economic base) in negative terms, resulting in public policies that ignored,…

Data was obtained from 52 principals and teachers in 46 small rural high schools in Alaska to determine ways in which the University of Alaska could improve its teacher education program and its services to teachers. Most of the respondents had not received their training at the University of Alaska. Three out of four respondents expressed…

Designed to assist teachers in small schools with the improvement of curriculum and instruction and to help smaller districts which do not have curriculum personnel to comply with Washington's Student Learning Objectives (SLO) Law, this guide contains curriculum materials for teaching reading in content areas to grades 9-12. The objectives listed…

Designed to assist teachers in small schools with the improvement of curriculum and instruction and to help smaller districts without curriculum personnel to comply with Washington's Student Learning Objectives Law, this guide contains the literature component of the language arts curriculum materials for grades 9-12. Learning objectives are…

Case studies of two small rural schools in Western Australia were conducted to examine the contention that neglect of distinctive economic, social and demographic environments of schools in rural areas has led to a tendency for rural schools to become carbon copies of urban schools, and thus to a mismatch between educational provision and the…

Small rural schools with fewer than 15 pupils per grade at the elementary level, fewer than 200 pupils in high schools, and fewer than 300 pupils in all grades at K-12 (or 1-12) schools or districts were profiled in 1980 by the National Institute of Education. Nearly 6,000 small schools were scattered throughout the country with the following…