Education students planning to teach in rural areas need, but do not receive, specialized training. Among differences encountered by rural teachers are professional isolation and limited inservice training; assignment to more subjects, more grade levels, and more extracurricular activities; lower budgets and salaries; inadequate materials; less pressured environment; greater cooperation; more student involvement; and more interaction among students, parents, and staff. A literature review suggests that teacher training programs are unresponsive to needs of prospective rural teachers and that research interest in rural education is limited. Suggestions for preparation of rural teachers include cultivating awareness of cultural, social, and economic conditions of rural areas through student teaching/practicums in nonmetropolitan areas; preparing future teachers to work with broader age ranges in multigrade classrooms and to teach several subjects; and encouraging faculty to conduct research in rural education. A comparative list of rural-urban differences in the work environment and a chart showing emphasis given by public institutions to topics applicable to rural teaching are included. (LFL)