By May 1989, 29 states and territories had mandated HIV/AIDS education in their public schools. Rural schools face special problems in the delivery of such education. From telephone interviews and a survey questionnaire, 32 rural school districts across the country were identified that use effective strategies in their HIV/AIDS education programs. This manual presents these programs as chapters, alphabetically by state. Each chapter describes: (1) community and school demographics; (2) the state and local contexts of HIV/AIDS education; (3) specific strategies that have been effective in the areas of curriculum, curriculum integration, parent and community involvement, staff training, skill building, funding, program evaluation, and program expansion and update; (4) program features that are specifically rural; and (5) suggestions for other schools. Effective strategies are indexed. Appendices contain a catalog of suggestions for program development and implementation and a summary of rural features of the 32 programs. This report contains 54 references. (SV)