A proposed project would develop a rural policy studies program for high school seniors in northern New York State. The program would deal with value positions as they pertain to the improvement of social conditions, use a variety of sources and kinds of knowledge, emphasize development and use of thinking skills, and concentrate on how knowledge is dealt with in a democracy. Study topics would be drawn from local rural economic and social issues such as labor market fluctuations, changes in national dairy policies, Native American business impact, shutdown of industrial plants, and the chronically rural poor. Program implementation would include training 10-15 area social studies teachers in policy studies through doing policy research. Next, these same teachers would develop and teach a course involving high school seniors in doing rural policy research. Inservice training would be offered to help teachers develop strategies and materials for learning to do logical and statistical analysis on rural issues. Student research results could be useful in rural community development efforts. The proposal points out ways in which a policy studies program differs from other academic areas in schools and emphasizes beneficial short- and long-term effects of merging policy studies techniques, public education, and rural community development. (LFL)