The ideas of voluntary simplicity and a "small is beautiful" lifestyle are applied to schools in an attempt to make connections between an ecological world view and schools. (JMF)

Minnesota has enacted legislation and implemented cooperative services to meet student needs. Legislation allows two or more districts to cooperate on programs and services while maintaining local boards and independent school district status. Communicasting, combining elements of communication and broadcasting, enables school districts to share…

School district reorganization will continue because there are still districts with enrollments below 1,200 pupils, and because of court-ordered measures to achieve desegregation or prevent segregation of schools. (Author/MLF)

A survey of 120 rural school districts in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington regarding issues and constraints of curriculum renewal indicates that strengthening instructional strategies, aligning assessment with curriculum and instruction, integrating curriculum, and preparing students for the next century were of most concern.…

Using 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade data for the same students from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study, researchers examined achievement growth for schools with 100 to 2,800 students. Math achievement rises as school size increases to about 600 students, holds steady to about 900 students, and then diminishes. Overall, students gained…

Describes Preuss School, University of California San Diego, a grade-6-to-12 charter school for low-income students, the major goal of which is to prepare students to attend the university. Concentrates on four areas to address student motivation and engagement: teaching for understanding, professional development, personalization, and school…

Summarizes rural teachers' problems and needs related to teaching conditions, scarce or outdated materials and equipment, cultural differences, and geographic isolation. Demonstrates that the Foxfire approach's core practices are more effective than Miller's "core teaching skills in teacher preparation programs" in preparing teachers to…

Describes high school courses, K-12 student enrichment programing, and inservice teacher training offered by interactive (two-way audio) instructional television satellite systems. Outlines the benefits of live, satellite television instruction for rural and small schools. Contains 11 references. (SV)

Despite some fears that small schools would have difficulty implementing the British National Curriculum, findings from 50 schools (9 with fewer than 100 students) show that small schools may provide greater opportunities for innovative curriculum and class organization and strong curricular leadership from headmasters who teach. (SK)

A teacher intern describes her experiences in a small K-6 school in rural, central west New South Wales (Australia), focusing on community and parent involvement in the school, the benefits of multigrade classes, the close relationships of students and staff, and extracurricular activities. (SV)

Proposes a 10-criteria classification framework, derived from current literature, to capture the characteristics of the design, leadership, and implementation of school improvement programs in the United Kingdom. Uses the classification frame to analyze the design model adopted by the secondary school in the case study. Draws conclusions about the…

As research continues to show that bigger schools are not necessarily better, educators are finding innovative ways to shrink them. Small schools may even prove less expensive, when costs per graduate are considered. In Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) and New York City, large elementary schools are breaking into smaller learning communities. (MLH)

Vocational education, once the non-college prep track, has evolved with the times and the changing work force. Now called career and technology education, it is playing a major role in driving high school reform toward smaller learning communities and more focused futures for students. In this article, the author looks at one district's approach.…

Large scale surveys in education have to face non-response issues that might bias the results. Non-response can occur at three levels: (i) a school refuses to participate, (ii) a sample student fails to participate and (iii) a participating student refuses to answer a particular question. Until now schools and student non-response have been…

In this article, the author discusses bell hooks' "Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom" in relation to transformational initiatives in urban high schools. As an external coach in schools and school districts, the author has been engaged the past few years in a variety of transformational initiatives, mostly in urban areas…