The phenomenon of globalization argues for a broader world view that makes allowances for cultural diversity. Caribbean states have a history of living and working with people from diverse backgrounds, and could make a contribution to the new perspective through closer engagement with the field of comparative education, which has always stressed…

A key component of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was the "E-rate," a program designed primarily to help fund telecommunication improvements at rural schools, libraries, and health care facilities. The program offers discounts that can be applied to telecommunication services, Internet access, and internal connections. An evaluation…

Congress has raised concerns about difficulties rural school districts face implementing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA). This report describes: key challenges rural states and districts face; strategies rural districts have developed; expenditures and resources related to rural districts? compliance; and guidance and assistance from the…

Describes the history and evolution of special education services in Costa Rica, along with critical issues that impede the expansion of educational services to students with learning disabilities. These include shortages of trained personnel, geographic isolation of a large sector of the population, and severe economic limitations. (Author/CR)

A purely geographic classification is not the best way to measure rural disadvantage in Australia. A service access model is described that incorporates the following elements: population center size; distance, time, and cost of travel to the service center; and a measure of the economic capacity of residents to overcome the cost of travel.…

Teaching science to indigenous students in Australia can be difficult, as some Western science concepts are in direct conflict with their cultural beliefs. Outlines some ways to make science instruction more culturally relevant to primary-aged indigenous students living in remote areas of the Northern Territory. Contains 23 references. (Author/WRM)

What were the influences on the Inuit of Northern Labrador preceding the creation of the self-governing territory of Nunatsiavut? What are the preterritorial influences of the Inuit on the territory's five schools? To answer these questions and to share the success of one Indigenous people, the Nunatsiavut Inuit (the Inuit of Northern Labrador,…

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was referred the bill (S. 136) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide supplemental funding and other services that are necessary to assist certain local school districts in the State of California in providing educational services for students attending schools located within…

Developed in the early 1980s, the Hill Areas Education project provides basic education to children and adults of Thailand's six ethnic minority groups, who live in the remote mountainous region of northern Thailand. The project delivers a locally relevant curriculum, equivalent to the six compulsory grades of the formal education system; promotes…

Broad assumptions about the impact of the Internet have created a "cult of hype" where the latest technological advancement is seen as the next best thing, and educators have been swept up in the promise of an educational utopia. The hype tells us that the world is joined by the infrastructure of this new technology and that…

The access to postsecondary education that is offered to students in rural areas differs significantly from the access available to urban students. An overview is given of the various factors and structural obstacles influencing rural access to postsecondary education, including aspirations, college preparation, socioeconomic characteristics of…

Surveys of 190 unemployed job seekers and interviews with 17 employers in the remote northern Highlands of Scotland found that the employability of many job seekers, particularly the long-term unemployed, was limited by significant gaps in their skills and work experience, their lack of connection to informal social networks used in job seeking,…

Presents the results of a survey and interviews with women enrolled at the University of South Australia. Highlights issues that should be considered to ensure the success of women distance-education students: confidence and finding a voice; overcoming isolation; and connected learning, in which members of a student group nurture each others'…

In the past, small states and provinces were outclassed by big metropolitan regions in the quest for economic development. However, small outlying regions, such as New Brunswick, Canada, can now compete with big urban centers since information technology has made higher education a global enterprise through online courses. Various countries and…

Between 1980 and 1988, 132 rural hospitals closed and as a result many rural towns also lost physicians, including 19 communities that were still without a physician 2 years after closure. Smaller, more remote towns had few physicians to begin with and were more likely than larger towns to lose physicians along with their hospitals. (LP)