This report summarizes demographic, economic, and social statistics on Canada's rural and small towns through 1989. Rural and small towns include areas with populations of less than 10,000 persons or a population density of less than 400 per square kilometer. The first section examines rural-urban differences in population trends and age…

Data from the Social Security Administration's Retirement History Study and a supplement to the 1968 Current Population Survey are discussed in terms of the relationship between (1) family size and residence, and (2) economic and educational status. It is shown that household heads who grew up as members of large families and/or as natives of…

Research shows that there is a shortage of effective teachers in many rural and urban K-12 public schools serving the highest proportions of high-poverty students across the United States. In the past 10 years, alternative route teacher preparation programs aiming to address this shortage proliferated across the United States. These programs seek…

The purpose of this study was to examine the college enrollment and persistence rates of rural high schools in Pennsylvania; the types of postsecondary institutions in which students from such schools enroll; and the student, school, and college characteristics associated with enrollment and persistence outcomes. The study used extant data from…

The math achievement of third and fourth grade special education students has been identified as an area of concern within a public school located in a small rural town located on the east coast. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate whether or not the Touch Math strategy increased the math ability of third and fourth grade…

Data gathered from a review of the literature, state department of education personnel, and directories of school districts are used to report on small school districts in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Enrollment size of school districts, expenditures per pupil, transportation costs per pupil, and student density were computed…

The decline in vocational coursetaking from 1982-1998 is relatively small compared to increases in academic coursetaking. The potential trade-off between academic and vocational coursetaking seems to have been mitigated by students taking more courses overall and fewer courses in the general curriculum. Further, the decline in vocational…

This study examined student writing over the past decades. The National Study of Writing Instruction addressed questions through analyses of existing data sets, particularly those from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which include background questions on instructional practices in U.S. middle and high schools. NAEP…

Local governments are essential to the democratic processes of the nation. Particularly in rural and other small communities, they are familiar institutions with much visibility and accessibility, promoting citizen participation and control. This guide presents an overview of the characteristics of American's small local governments. America's…

A search of recent research on group training apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia found that group training companies (GTCs) are making a strong contribution to Australia's apprentice and trainee system. Key findings include the following: (1) group training apprentice and trainee numbers doubled over the period of 1995-2000; (2) over…

A study examined the publicly-funded vocational education and training (VET) system in South Australia (SA) in 1997. Background information indicated SA is a geographically large state with a relatively small population that is older compared to the rest of Australia, with 14 percent aged over 65 compared with 12 percent nationally. Findings were…

This report questions whether high-tech development is an option for rural counties in the United States by examining the spatial location, industrial composition, growth experience, and environmental factors associated with high-tech industries in such counties. Using a highly detailed database of manufacturing plants and estimates of employment,…