Viewpoints is a multimedia package containing two audio CDs and a brief, informative booklet. This volume of Viewpoints focuses on issues related to high school reform. This booklet offers background information explaining the issues surrounding high school reform with perspectives from research, policy, and practice. It also provides a list of…

A study examined how Arkansas students' achievement is related to poverty, school and district size, and the interaction between these factors. Achievement test scores from grades 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 in all Arkansas schools were supplied by the Arkansas Department of Education. Poverty levels were determined by percentage of students receiving…

In the 11 years since the devolution to local control of New Zealand schools, the role of the Board of Trustees chairperson has emerged as critical to the success of the school-community partnership, especially in small rural communities. A qualitative study examined the issues facing the Board chair, as a lay, elected school leader working in…

This booklet is one architectural firm's presentation of understanding and applying the latest educational research in real-world settings. It asserts that achitects can make significant contributions to education by designing schools that uniquely facilitate improvements in organizational structure, learning methods, or both. It presents lessons…

This document contains the four issues of Northwest Education published from fall 2000 through summer 2001. Issue themes are: (1) "New Moves: PE Reinvents Itself" (Fall 2000); (2) "Think Small: Making Education More Personal" (Winter 2000); (3) "The Wild Blue Yonder: Charter Schools Fly into the Unknown" (Spring…

This document contains the 10 quarterly issues of "Rural Matters: The Rural Challenge News," published from Fall 1997 to Winter 2000 (the final issue). This newsletter focused on projects funded by the Annenberg Rural Challenge, as well as research summaries and opinion pieces on the benefits of small schools, place-based education, and…

Students in rural areas need strong career guidance programs to help them overcome disadvantages related to poverty, isolation, and scarcity of occupational opportunities and role models. A survey of career guidance programs in rural schools examined three essential program components identified in national guidelines. These components are a…

This report examines whether students at risk for academic failure are achieving success in Kentucky's alternative schools. Alternative schools serve as a placement both for students who disrupt the mainstream classroom and for those who need academic remediation. Such mixed placements may not provide a quality education for students having only…

This paper focuses on how urban high schools may be not only revitalized but also transformed into institutions that are designed to help students at the crossroads of their academic careers. It discusses the rationale for change, historic highlights of this effort, and a new vision for American high schools. Some of the promising approaches to…

The purpose of this bulletin is to furnish generally to persons who are interested, and more especially to educators and students of education, the names of and the main facts pertaining to 260 school consolidations in all parts of the United States. The term "consolidations" is used because the kinds of educational organizations about which data…

Many instructional strategies which characterize small alternative schools in urban areas are applicable to small rural schools as well. Philosophical and organizational assumptions and educational methods used in successful alternative schools are discussed. (PP)

Describes the Adams Township school district's efforts to save its school. (AH)

A model, appropriate for small and rural schools, offers an alternative to consolidation. Through its use, four Minnesota school districts have retained aspects of local school tradition and have provided improved educational opportunities to their high school students. (CM)

The author outlines a simple calendarized budget and cash flow system, including monthly self-audits, designed for small Catholic elementary schools. Sample forms and records are included. (SJL)

Because 98% of Americans live outside of urban areas, the future of American education in the decades ahead is closely linked to what happens in our small towns and rural schools. Equal educational opportunity for all students entails equal resource distribution and commitment by educators and communities. (Author/CM)