This study examined the leadership practices of seven rural superintendents, selected via a sampling strategy which identified disadvantaged rural districts that had experienced marked increased in test scores during the superintendent's tenure. Researchers examined how the practices of these superintendents were linked to Waters and Marzano's…

In this paper, we describe a 30-month qualitative exploration of diverse teachers' identities in a high-poverty, bilingual, K-8 public charter school in rural eastern Oregon. First, we use the perspectives of saberes docentes and a situated view of teacher development to document the life histories of monolingual and bilingual teachers at Vista…

This study examines the events and behaviors associated with the improved and sustained student achievement in a rural high school. The rural high school highlighted in this study showed significant improvement and sustained achievement over a three year period as defined in the following areas: (a) test scores, (b) achievement of Adequate Yearly…

Researchers interviewed rural high school principals in order to learn about reform of mathematics education in their schools. Twenty principals from three rural regions of Ohio participated. A member of the research team conducted a semi-structured interview with each principal. Analysis of interview data suggested that schools were undertaking…

Academic discourse relating to the cultural relevance of indigenous education is ever expanding both nationally in Canada and internationally. Reflecting upon recent research data as well as lived experience as a teacher educator in Nunavut, I offer a critique of some well-established beliefs connected to considerations of culturally appropriate…

This article presents district administrators' reflections about (a) the contextual challenges they face in leading a high-need rural school system in Central Appalachia and (b) the change initiatives they implemented to transform the principalship from school management to instructional leadership. After several years of reform efforts, the…

Like most other Western countries, New Zealand has been undergoing considerable change in its rural communities for some decades. Alongside the changes in rural New Zealand, there has been what many commentators argue, a paradigm shift in education from a "front-loaded" model dominated by schooling to one of lifelong learning. This article…

Contextualized in relationship to other case studies about rural districts that have experienced population growth and decline as well as in relationship to the small sociological literature on "boom towns," this study considered the dynamics that seem to be interfering with one previously rural and now suburbanizing district's ability to address…

The No Child Left Behind Act reflects a decision by Congress that federal money not be squandered searching for local solutions, but that scientifically based research be utilized to ensure that every student meets academic standards. The school improvement process requires that local stakeholders cooperatively plan an improvement process, and…

The No Child Left Behind Act requires all teachers to be highly qualified by 2005-06. Accomplishing this will require statewide collaboration among higher education, school districts, certification boards, and departments of education. Data from recent studies of teacher recruitment, retention, and professional development in Wyoming illustrate…

A study examined seven rural Alaska communities engaged in educational reform. Findings indicate that educators must work with small communities to design reforms around local culture; parents must participate actively in school life and decisions; district leaders must share leadership to increase local ownership of reforms; and education in…

Though many maintain that current standards-based school reform is unprecedented, an educational reform effort begun nearly a century ago set standards for improving rural midwestern schools. Begun during the tumultuous Progressive Era, the standard-school initiative emerged from a larger concern for the quality of American rural life. A…

Reviews an ethnographic analysis of Teach for America, a 1990 educational reform program that illustrates how underlying assumptions about "marginal" urban and rural students and their "deficient" environments solidify existing power structures, acculturate students to middle-class norms, generate resistance to teachers, and ensure failure to…

Examines rural educational reforms in a small, isolated, economically disadvantaged Ohio school; an advantaged Michigan school; and an Iowa elementary school with a growing Hispanic population. Common elements contributing to reform success: supportive school culture, attention to change principles, research-based strategies, local adaptations,…

Examines the effects of a state standards-based reform--the Maine Learning Results--on curriculum and instruction in four small rural schools, focusing particularly on the impact on locally responsive curricula in the schools. Suggests that state standards and place-based curriculum may not be as incompatible as previously suggested. (Author/SV)