The Farm Foundation was established in 1933 as a private agency to help coordinate the work of other public and private groups and agencies to improve agriculture and rural life without taking political positions or supporting specific legislation. An operating rather than a grant-making foundation, the foundation develops national and regional…

This report provides an informed "snapshot," based on recent literature, of barriers to vocational education and training (VET) for target groups and an annotated bibliography of recent reports. Part A is a "solutions-oriented" overview of most VET-related equity research and reports since 1990. It discusses Australian National…

To describe rural poverty in Wisconsin in a manner useful to educators, policymakers, clergy, and businesspersons, census statistics, primarily from 1980, were used to look separately at rural nonfarm, farm, and urban families and persons. Other census data provided comparability. As measured in 1980, 6% of urban and rural nonfarm families had…

Data from the 1980, 1970, and 1960 censuses were used to describe Pennsylvania's rural women and to compare them with urban women and, in some instances, men. In Pennsylvania in 1980, just 1 rural woman in 25 lived on a farm. These women were more educated, more active in the labor force, and somewhat better paid than their counterparts in 1960…

Intended for use as a planning tool by adult educators and program administrators, this manual is designed to offer guidance for the development of instructional, self-help, and training programs geared toward rural adults with low education and/or skills. Part I focuses on the "Tribes" process, an educational strategy built around…

The major papers collected in this work were written by researchers who participated in a regional research project entitled "Isolation of Factors Related to Levels and Patterns of Living in the Rural South." Chapter 1 examines the low income rural family as an open system. Chapter 2 discusses research objectives and sample design.…

Nonmetropolitan and totally rural areas have greater unmet health needs and fewer health resources than urban areas. Blacks, American Indians, migrants, and Appalachians have specialized rural health care needs as a result of cultural isolation, poverty, and discrimination. The reversal of the rural to urban population migration has increased the…

Educational, medical, and other services in rural areas have been undergoing a consolidation and centralization process to bring about more efficient operation. A research project sponsored by the United Methodist Church was designed to assess the position of the church as a decentralized unit in a small community relative to its leadership…

A Federally-sponsored summer institute, the 1971 adult basic education (ABE) teacher training institute at Alabama State University was an in-depth study directed to the identification and solution of crucial problems of rural poor adults. The 100 institute participants, representing 16 states, were ABE administrators and teachers and personnel…

Interim information concerning the ABE III grants is provided in the three parts of this report. Part 1 (outline) describes the goals and objectives of each component; Part 2 describes accomplishments and problems to date; and Part 3 deals with coordination and supervision activities undertaken by the Lab. The components of the program are: (1)…

This paper investigates family patterns and value orientations of rural blacks with regard to twelve categories of behavior, among which are education, health, recreation, occupation, housing patterns, and ethnic attitudes. Data presented are based on 100 interviews, and impressions from non-structured interviews with community leaders, public…

Discusses the assumption that linguistic heterogeneity reflects social heterogeneity. The article examines a challenge to this assumption evident in the Gaelic-speaking communities of East Sutherland, Scotland, with homogeneous populations showing well-established patterns of language variation that do not correlate with socioeconomic status. (38…

A database that tracked information requests from University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) distance students using the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library's Off-Campus Services (OCS) indicated that, beginning in 2001, students became more self-reliant searchers. Reasons for this trend included: increased number of licensed online resources from which to choose;…

This paper discusses recent demographic and economic trends in Illinois and nationwide and resulting implications for rural schools and communities. Economic and social trends and their impacts on rural schools over the next decade include: (1) a more diverse school population due to growing numbers of Asian and Hispanic immigrants; (2) a greater…

The role that rural libraries could have in increasing the awareness level of disability issues in their communities and in expanding opportunities for the disabled was studied in a survey of 401 rural Indiana and Iowa libraries. A review of the literature associated with rural rehabilitation services suggests that the two crucial barriers to the…