Rural Education (2001)

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Baker, A., Linhart, R., & Dunham, M. (1999). Effectiveness of Secondary Education Programs as Perceived by Rural High School Graduates. The Rural educator, 20(3), 14.

Ballou, D., & Podgursky, M. (1995). Rural Schools: Fewer Highly Trained Teachers and Special Programs, but Better Learning Environment. "Rural Education and Training." Entire issue available from EDRS, see RC 020 673. Paper presented at the Theme issue. Analysis of data from the Schools and Staffing Survey, 1987-88, reveals that compared to metropolitan schools, nonmetropolitan schools are smaller, have fewer teachers with advanced degrees, and offer fewer advanced or remedial classes. However, smaller rural schools often provide smaller classes, more teacher attention, and a less stressful learning environment. Contains 24 references and 9 data tables. (Author/SV) EJ528303

Barker, B. O. (Oct 1990). National Rural Education Endorsed Research Centers: Current Activities and Future Directions., 9pp. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the National Rural Education Association (82nd, Colorado Springs, CO, October 5-8, 1990). Any public or private, non-profit agency, organization, or institution committed to research in rural education may apply for official endorsement from the National Rural Education Association (NREA) to establish a recognized Rural Education Research Center. The major objectives of NREA endorsement of ongoing or future research include: (1) keeping rural education a prominent item on the agenda of state and federal offices, public agencies, and institutions of higher education; (2) providing an increased research focus to public entities serving rural populations; (3) providing public or private non-profit agencies, institutions, or organizations with added creditability when seeking internal or external funds to conduct research with a rural focus; (4) serving as a mechanism for data gathering and dissemination that will provide local, state, and federal policymakers with accurate and timely information for decisionmaking; and (5) allowing for a network of rural researchers to coordinate efforts and share information. The NREA endorsement is initially for a period of 3 years with successive renewals of 5 years. Endorsement requirements are: (1) expertise in and publicly available reports on rural education research; (2) support from parent organization, colleagues, and a variety of schools or intermediate service units; (3) commitment of a minimum of 2 fulltime personnel and $10,000 of operating expenses and support services; (4) evidence of an appropriate plan and willingness to disseminate research results; and (5) a written 5-year research agenda with annual progress reports. Two endorsed NREA Research Centers are the Center for Rural and Small Schools at Kansas State University and the Rural Education Research and Service Consortium at Tennessee Technological University. (ALL) ED329399

Barker, B. O., ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools., & United States. Office of Educational Research and Improvement. (1987). Interactive distance learning technologies for rural and small schools: a resource guide. [Las Crucas, N. Mex.]: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools. Ed 1.310/2:286698

Barker, B., & Chance, E. (1993). A Description of National Rural Education Association Sponsored Research Activities. Paper presented at the Rural Educator, 14, 2, 4-8 Win 199 1993. Discusses ongoing efforts of the National Rural Education Association (NREA) to support rural research and data collection activities. Describes research activities and projects at three university-based rural education research centers established with NREA endorsement. Provides criteria and application procedures for NREA-endorsed research centers. (SV) EJ463076

Barnett, R. (1 September 1999). The Coming of the Global Village: a tale of two inquiries. Oxford Review of Education, 25(3), 293-306(214). In 1963, in the UK, a government-appointed Committee on Higher Education (chaired by Lord Robbins) produced its Report, Higher Education. A generation later, a corresponding exercise was undertaken in the UK, through a National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education, chaired by Sir Ron Dearing. Its Report, Higher Education in the Learning Society, was published in 1997. The two reports share many features, addressing largely similar matters, having overlapping concerns and placing their analyses in an international context. Access, participation, curricula, teaching, standards and academic freedom are just some of the issues that both reports tackle. However, in their envisaged positioning of higher education, their discourse and their vision, discontinuities can be detected between the two reports. The Robbins Report can be understood as an internal report of an academic community, assured of itself and of higher education as an existing social and educational good. Its audience was the wider society and the polity: it was a document arguing for an expansion of the sector on its own terms. The Dearing Report, in contrast, can be understood as an external document of the wider society and the polity. It attempted to draw together the interests of multiple stakeholders and, with higher education as its major audience, sought to reposition higher education such that it became a force for continuing economic regeneration. Robbins is the internal voice of a rural village, that of higher education itself. Dearing is an external set of voices telling a story especially of an emerging urban village of the global economy.

Baxter, J., Bryant, L. L., Scarbro, S., & Shetterly, S. M. (January 2001). Patterns of Rural Hispanic and Non-Hispanic White Health Care Use: The San Luis Valley Health and Aging Study. Research on Aging, 23(1), 37-60(24). This cross-sectional study examines utilization of health care resources, including nursing homes, among 1,433 rural Hispanic and non-Hispanic White participants in the San Luis Valley Health and Aging Study. Results show substantially greater non-Hispanic White residence in nursing homes, greater Hispanic use of professional home nursing services, but little ethnic difference in outpatient care or hospitalization. Analyses based on the behavior model of utilization find health care use strongly associated with need factors. In particular, outpatient care correlated with disease and instrumental daily living activity dependence, home nursing care with basic daily living activity dependence, and nursing home use with daily living activity dependence and cognitive impairment. Predisposing characteristics (age, marital status, education) and enabling supports and barriers (insurance, availability of no- or low-cost care, transportation difficulties) also influenced utilization. The differential ethnic pattern of nursing home use persisted after controlling for these important characteristics.

Beckner, W., & Barker, B. O. (1994). Technology in Rural Education. Fastback No. 366., 35p. The use of educational technology in rural schools can maximize the natural advantages of rural schools and alleviate the disadvantages. Rural schools often face geographic isolation, shortages in specialized staff, low student enrollments, small numbers of special needs students, limited program offerings for students, and limited opportunities for staff development for teachers and administrators. In 1992, the National Congress on Rural Education identified barriers to the improvement of rural education in the areas of funding, provision for special circumstances of rural education, staff development, adequate and qualified teaching personnel, administrator work overload, and remedial education. Technology can overcome or alleviate these barriers. Technology available for rural schools includes personal computers and software, and distance learning and telecommunication technologies, such as audiographics, two-way interactive television, electronic mail, electronic bulletin boards, online databases, and information networks. Library technologies offer specialized CD-ROM discs for reference services and telecommunications networks for online library searches. Technology use in rural schools should be evaluated in terms of whether or not it serves the purpose for which it is employed and what data supports the evaluation. To make successful improvements, rural school leaders must establish a climate of trust and openness, evaluate and screen the various possibilities for improvement, and provide administrative and financial support for the change effort. (KS) ED369586

Beeson, E., & Strange, M. (2000). Why Rural Matters: The Need for Every State to Take Action on Rural Education. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 16(2), 63-140.

Beeson, E., & Strange, M. P. L. (2000). Why Rural Matters: The Need for Every State To Take Action on Rural Education. This study describes the importance of rural education in each of the 50 states, and suggests the urgency with which state policymakers should address the needs of rural schools and communities. The study compared states on two gauges of concern for their rural schools and communities. The rural importance gauge examines how important it is to the overall educational performance of each state to explicitly address the particular needs of its rural schools. Eight indicators of the scale, proportion, and challenge of rural education in the state are considered. The rural urgency gauge examines how urgent it is in each state that policymakers develop explicit rural education policies, given conditions in the state's rural schools and communities. Eleven indicators are used to quantify the need for concern, some of which compare the state's rural and nonrural schools. States were ranked and placed into quartiles along a spectrum ranging from "useful" to "crucial" on the importance gauge, and from "fair" to "urgent" on the urgency gauge. Results identify Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, and West Virginia as the top 10 states where rural education is important and needs are urgent. While the rankings are useful in identifying states where rural education is paramount to good schooling, they also identify states where rural communities' educational needs may be lost in the political shuffle of state politics. Results are presented for each state in data tables and figures, and state-by-state comparisons for each indicator are presented in bar graphs. (TD) ED445847

Bloodsworth, G. ([1993). Rural Education and the Urban Reform Movement., 11p. There are major differences between rural and urban education, yet most educational reform efforts have been heavily urban oriented. While reform movements of the 1980s may have benefited urban schools, they have only added to the problems of rural education. Some of the conditions often associated with rural schools are: poverty, reform generated problems stemming from the promotion of national standards and assessments, failure to consider basic inequities among schools, an unwillingness on the part of rural students to seek individual recognition or to engage in individual competition, and the diversity of cultures within rural areas. It is suggested that in order to improve rural education the unique needs of rural schools and the characteristics of rural students must be understood and addressed. Teacher education programs must include rural education as a legitimate entity in curricular studies and pedagogical approaches; educational textbooks need to distinguish between rural and urban education; multicultural education programs should address the diversity found in rural areas; and rural education must be based on academically demanding rural, not urban standards. (LL) ED366590

BONDEVIK, G. T., ULSTEIN, M., LIE, R. T., RANA, G., & KVALE, G. (May 2000). The prevalence of anemia in pregnant Nepali women - a study in Kathmandu. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 79(5), 341-349(349). Background. Anemia in pregnancy is associated with maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization has suggested that where up-to-date information is not available, prevalence studies should be undertaken.Methods. The distribution of hematocrit in 2280 pregnant women attending Patan Hospital, Kathmandu, for their first antenatal visit in a twelve month period, 1994-95, was studied. Anemia was defined as a hematocrit value 34% in the first and third trimesters, or 33% in the second trimester. Severe anemia was defined as a hematocrit value 24%. The prevalence of anemia and severe anemia, and associations with socio-demographic (age, ethnic group, living area, maternal and paternal education and occupation) and biological (height, body mass index, parity, gestation) variables were investigated.Results. The hematocrit values ranged from 11-49% with a mean value of 32.6% (s.d. 3.9). The prevalences of anemia and severe anemia were 62.2% and 3.6%, respectively. High prevalence of anemia was observed among teenagers, farmers, women of short height, the ethnic groups LamaSherpaTamang, and women married to industrial workers or illiterate men. Also, the risk of anemia increased with gestation. Work within the service professions, higher education and high body mass index, were associated with a lower risk of anemia.Conclusions. A high prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in Kathmandu was observed. The hematocrit values were related to socio-demographic and biological factors. In order to plan focused and effective intervention, studies on the etiology of anemia among pregnant women in rural and urban areas of Nepal need to be carried out.

Borrego, M., Rhyne, R., Hansbarge, L., Geller, Z., Edwards, P., Griffin, B., McClain, L., & Scaletti, J. (2000). Pharmacy Student Participation in Rural Interdisciplinary Education Using Problem Based Learning Case Tutorials. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 64(4), 355-362.

Boucaut, R. (1998). Health education activities conducted by physiotherapy students on field trips to rural areas: A case study. The Australian journal of rural health, 6(4), 208.

Bowen, S. (2000). Hispanic Deaf Students in Rural Education Settings: Complex Issues., In: Capitalizing on Leadership in Rural Special Education: Making a Difference for Children and Families. Conference Proceedings (Alexandria, VA, March 16-18, 2000); see RC 022 337. Page Length: 6. This paper reviews issues surrounding Hispanic students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Research indicates that Hispanic deaf and hard of hearing students generally have lower academic success than their deaf or hearing peers. In addition, they are more likely to drop out of school or be tracked into vocational programs and less likely to attend college. The most prominent characteristic of Hispanic deaf students is language option and choice. Language options include spoken English or Spanish, various sign languages, or an invented system of home signs. Cultural considerations are also important. Hispanics are family-oriented, mothers and fathers often follow traditional roles, and strong religious beliefs may influence family attitudes toward disabilities. Evaluation teams must collect sufficient data on the student's language use at home to ensure learning in school. The evaluation team should include family members, an audiologist, a speech-language pathologist, an ESL/bilingual teacher, a teacher of the deaf, a general educator, Spanish and sign language interpreters, and paraprofessionals. School personnel must encourage families to participate and take specific steps to avoid communication barriers and breakdowns. A comprehensive naturalistic assessment will provide a wealth of information for academic placement and social support. Rural school districts may pool resources to form a regional assessment team and regional learning centers. (Contains 19 references.) (SV) ED439875

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Callas, P. W., Ricci, M. A., & Caputo, M. P. (1 December 2000). Improved Rural Provider Access to Continuing Medical Education Through Interactive Videoconferencing. Telemedicine Journal and e-Health, 6(4), 393-399(397). We sought to describe use patterns and user evaluation of remotely-attended continuing medical education (CME) programs in Vermont and upstate New York. Remote attendees were required to return an evaluation form to receive CME credit. The form included name and date of the program; name, location, and specialty of the respondent; and questions regarding program quality, value, effectiveness, and attendee plans if the program had not been available via telemedicine. From April, 1996, through December, 1998, health care providers from 14 remote sites used the network 927 times to attend 394 CME programs at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vermont. After the start-up period, an average of over three programs per week was attended, with an average of 2.4 remote attendees per program. Seventy-seven percent of remote attendees stated that they would not have attended the program if it had not been available over telemedicine, while the remaining 23 said that they avoided traveling due to videoconferencing. When asked the effectiveness of telemedicine technology for attending, 73 said it was as effective as having the presenter in the room, 23 said it was less effective, and 4 said it was more effective. Major technical problems, such as having the call disconnect during the presentation, decreased over time. There were continuing minor logistical problems common to large group videoconferencing. The telemedicine system has increased availability of CME programs for rural providers in Vermont and upstate New York. Most attendees have found the programs to be worthwhile, and technological advancements have improved the quality of the system.

Carpenter, L., Quigley, M., Kinsman, J., Nakiyingi, J., Kamali, A., Pool, R., & Whitworth, J. (February 2001). Evaluation of a comprehensive school-based AIDS education programme in rural Masaka, Uganda. Health Education Research, 16(1), 85-100(116). A 19 activity extracurricular school-based AIDS education programme lasting 1 year was conducted in rural southwestern Uganda using specially trained teachers, and was evaluated using mutually supportive quantitative and qualitative methods. In total, 1274 students from 20 intervention schools and 803 students from 11 control schools completed questionnaires at baseline, and their classes were followed up. In addition, 93 students from five of the intervention schools participated in 12 focus group discussions. The programme had very little effect-seven of the nine key questionnaire variables showed no significant increase in score after the intervention. Data from the focus group discussions suggest that the programme was incompletely implemented, and that key activities such as condoms and the role-play exercises were covered only very superficially. The main reasons for this were a shortage of classroom time, as well as teachers' fear of controversy and the unfamiliar. We conclude that large-scale comprehensive school-based AIDS education programmes in sub-Saharan Africa may be more completely implemented if they are fully incorporated into national curricula and examined as part of life-skills education. This would require teachers to be trained in participatory teaching methods while still at training college.

Carroll, S. E. (15 Jan 1990). Rural Education Problems: Current Status and Future Focus., 78p. This literature survey examines rural problems and potential improvement strategies that have emerged on the agendas of rural educators and policymakers. The report discusses diverse rural conditions, demographic shifts, economic changes, technological improvements in education, increased demand for reform in curriculum and classroom management, teacher shortages, low educational attainment, financial support, and current federal and state rural education policies. Historically, states have taken responsibility for education, with the Federal Government acting to insure equal opportunity and to disseminate new approaches. Rural people are culturally diverse, but generally hold a relationship with the land and natural resources. Population growth and composition affect the wealth of the economy, career opportunities, tax collection and allocation, teacher availability, and accessibility of potential partnerships. New demands on rural teachers are high, and their retention poses a problem. Rural schools' curriculum and classroom management have also been subject to change due to public pressures for reform. The sparsity of rural population means education is more expensive than it is elsewhere. Financial support for rural schools remains a problem, and rural America continues to have a disproportionate share of educational deprivation. Rural youth generally enter school later, they progress more slowly, and leave earlier. Positive changes will not be possible unless governments and private foundations address the fundamental problems and causes underlying these deficiencies. The document concludes that rural educators must build on the strengths of diversity, learn to use technology effectively, use community resources, and build effective partnership programs. The document includes a bibliography with approximately 60 entries. (TES) ED321935

Cash, K., Khan, S. I., Nasreen, H.-E. -., Bhuiya, A., Chowdhury, S., & Chowdhury, A. M. R. (1 April 2001). Telling Them Their Own Stories: legitimizing sexual and reproductive health education in rural Bangladesh. Sex Education, 1(1), 43-57(15). Most people in Bangladesh are rural, poor and underprivileged. The incidence of sexual disease has increased, but little has been done to educate rural people about sexual and reproductive health. In 1997, a sexual and reproductive health project was initiated within a collaborative research agreement between the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR,B) and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), an indigenous non-governmental organization which pursues integrated rural development strategies. Qualitative in-depth interviews with 65 different women, men, boys and girls revealed significant sexual health problems and a lack of knowledge of sexual and reproductive health. The interviews were transformed into composite problem-solving picture stories and information about sexual and reproductive health. Stories mirrored respondents' interpretations of sexual behavior. Those who had achieved or ascribed legitimacy to talk about sex, e.g. traditional health providers, were trained to utilize the methods and materials. Qualitative evaluations revealed important changes in health providers' self-confidence, business and personal interactions as well as changes in clients' behavior. This project found that sexual and reproductive health education can be integrated into indigenous health activities if the sociocultural context in which sex, relationships, risks, diseases and communication occur is reflected in a program's content and methods. Unquestionably, there is a great need for sex education in rural Bangladesh.

Castaneda, X., Brindis, C., & Camey, I. C. (1 April 2001). Nebulous margins: sexuality and social constructions of risks in rural areas of Central Mexico. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 3(2), 203-219(217). This paper reports on research conducted among young people in two rural communities in the state of Morelos, Central Mexico. Methods used included participant observation, indepth interviews and focus groups. Findings suggest that a person's constitution or 'nature', their gender and perceived risks during agricultural work were strongly associated with riskrelated sexual behaviour. Those who perceive themselves as having a strong constitution see themselves at low risk of acquiring STIs/AIDS. Young people reported receiving little information about reproductive matters at school, including condom use. When information was provided, it was often in a form disassociated from its cultural context. Efforts to control female sexuality between puberty and marriage were particularly marked in the communities studied and may interfere with risk reduction among both young women and young men. Policy recommendations for the future development of sexual education in rural areas in Mexico are outlined.

Chadha, G., Sahu, P., & Rout, B. (2001). Education, Skills, and Working Environments of Workers in India's Rural Industry. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, 7(2), 153-164.

Chowdhury, A. M., Helman, C., & Greenhalgh, T. (1 August 2000). Food beliefs and practices among British Bangladeshis with diabetes: implications for health education. Anthropology & Medicine, 7(2), 209-226(218). In order successfully to promote 'healthier' food choices, health professionals must first understand how people classify and select the foods they eat. We explored the food beliefs and classification system of British Bangladeshis by means of qualitative interviews with 40 first-generation adult immigrants with diabetes. Methods included audiotaped, unstructured narrative interview in which participants were invited to 'tell the story' of how diabetes affects them, pile sorting of food items, and participant observation of meals. We found considerable heterogeneity of individual food choices against a background of structural and economic factors (i.e. food choices were partly determined by affordability and availability), as well as cultural influences. Important themes included strong religious restrictions on particular food items (chiefly the Islamic prohibition of pork), and widely held ethnic customs based on the availability of foods in rural Bangladesh. Modification of the diet on immigration did not generally incorporate many 'Western' foods but included increased quantities of 'special menu' Bangladeshi foods such as meat and traditional sweets. Foods were not classified or selected according to Western notions of food values (protein, carbohydrate, etc.). Rather, within religious and ethnic patterns, further food choices were determined by two interrelated and intersecting binary classification systems: 'strong'/'weak' and 'digestible'/'indigestible', which appear to replace the 'hot'/'cold' classification prevalent elsewhere in South Asia. Different methods of cooking (especially baking and grilling) were perceived to alter the nature of the food. A desire for dietary balance, and a strong perceived link with health, was apparent. These findings have important implications for the design of health education messages. Dietary advice should reflect religious restrictions, ethnic customs and the different cultural meaning of particular foods, while also acknowledging the ability of the individual to exercise choice within those broad limits.

Chun, W. (1999). More Energetic Efforts for the Development of Community Education in Rural Areas. Chiao y{‡}u yen chiu, 20(9), 30.

Clark, G., & Zimmerman, E. (2000). Greater Understanding of the Local Community: A Community-based Art Education program for Rural Schools. Art Education, 53(2), 33.

Clark, S. (Jun 1990). Rural Education: The State of the Art. "Think Tank" Introductory Paper., 62pp. In: "Think Tank" on Research into Rural Education. Proceedings of the Conference Held by the Rural Education Research and Development Centre (Townsville, Queensland, Australia, June 10-14, 1990); see RC 020 271. This paper reviews and analyzes the research in rural education in Australia in recent decades. Research undertaken in other countries is examined where comparisons, differences, or explanations are useful in understanding the Australian context. Following an introduction to the Australian education system and summaries of demographic features of rural areas and schools, key concepts emerging from the literature are discussed. These concepts include rurality, isolation and remoteness, rural education, and distance education. The literature review is structured around four major themes. The theme of schooling covers teachers (recruitment, retention, training for rural areas, and affective factors); students (achievement, dropout rate, and education of minority groups); school-community relationships (community participation, school closing, school size, rural lifestyle, and rural school characteristics); and accommodation of rural students in boarding schools. Theme 2, technology, covers geographic isolation, technological innovation, and distance education. Theme 3, educational delivery, encompasses equal educational opportunity, curriculum, decentralization, service delivery, and educational models. Theme 4 examines distinctions between rural education and education in rural areas. This paper concludes with 23 research questions. Recommended research priorities are rural definition, teacher preparation, curriculum design, community participation, access to services, secondary education for isolated students, and educational provision to facilitate gender and cultural equity. Contains over 200 references. (SV) ED386365

Cleverley, J. (1991). "On the Evidence before Me..." Putting the Case for Rural Educational Reform in China. Paper presented at the Comparative Education, 27, 1, 53-60 1991. Evaluating Chinese publications about rural education and needed reforms presents several problems: political limits on educational debate; paucity of statistical data and reference citations; and complex ideological statements. Examination of nine journal and newspaper articles reveals that they cautiously endorse rural education reforms within the limits of current policy. (SV) EJ423600

Cochran, J. (1990). A Comparison between Rural Education in Egypt and the U.S. Paper presented at the Rural Educator, 11, 2, 3-5 Win 198 1990. Compares Egypt and United States rural school systems. Countries share financial limitations, low salaries, and teacher turnover. Discusses Egypt's national curriculum, high student dropout rate, administrative problems, and possible solutions. Concludes that countries' rural education problems are similar but differ as to cause. (TES) EJ410854

Coe, J., & Elliott, D. (1999). An Evaluation of Teaching Direct Practice Courses in a Distance Education Program for Rural Settings. Journal of social work education, 35(3), 353.

Collins, B., Schuster, J., & GrishamBrown, J. (1999). So You're a Distance Learner? Tips and Suggestions for Rural Special Education Personnel Involved in Distance Education. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 18(3/4), 66-71.

Collins, R. P. (1996). Rural Education: Clarkton School of Discovery. Paper presented at the Clearing House, 69, 3, 132 Jan-Feb 1996. Describes the Clarkton School of Discovery in Clarkton, North Carolina, a gifted- and-talented magnet middle school that is open to all students in the school district. (SR) EJ529116

Collins, T. (1999). Charter Schools: An Approach for Rural Education? ERIC Digest. Charter schools have emerged in the 1990s as a prominent and controversial school reform idea. This digest discusses characteristics of charter schools, tentative research findings, advantages and disadvantages, and implications for rural communities. Since 1991, 33 states and the District of Columbia have passed charter school legislation. An estimated 1,129 charter schools existed nationwide in September 1998, mostly in the South and West. Differences in state laws produce wide diversity in the organization, operation, and philosophies of charter schools. Recent studies funded by the U.S. Department of Education show that individual states vary widely in policies related to charter schools, that charter schools tend to be small, that parents tend to choose charter schools because of dissatisfaction with public schools, and that charter schools tend to have different grade configurations from other public schools. Chart er schools are generally intended to produce high-performing students, but hard data on their effectiveness are lacking and results appear mixed. Argum ents for and against charter schools are listed. Charter schools may offer educational alternatives to rural communities, which might set up schools that are community-based, educationally appropriate to local needs, innovative, accountable, and focused on student success. However, inadequate resources in many rural communities could cause problems. Communi ty influences on a rural charter school's success are discussed. (Contains 21 references.) (SV) ED425896 Available from: ERIC/CRESS, Appalachia Educational Laboratory, P.O. Box 1348, Charleston, WV 25325-1348; Web site: http://www.ael.org/eric/ (free). You may be able to order this document from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service.

Corral, L., & Reardon, T. (March 2001). Rural Nonfarm Incomes in Nicaragua. World Development, 29(3), 427-442(416). This paper examines nonfarm incomes of rural Nicaraguan households using a nationwide survey (LSMS) from 1998. The key findings are as follows. (a) Rural nonfarm income (RNFI) constitutes 41% of rural household incomes. (b) RNFI is much more important than farm wage-labor income. (c) RNFI tends to be relatively concentrated geographically and socioeconomically, toward the rural areas of the Managua zone and the Rest-of-Pacific zone, which are denser in infrastructure and population, and toward the upper income quartile of rural households. This concentration implies high entry barriers and capital requirements for rural nonfarm activity that the poor are simply not equipped to overcome. Equipping the rural poor through training and acquisition of diverse forms of capital to have a chance at the higher return nonfarm jobs would be a major step toward helping them to share the benefits of the rural nonfarm economy. (d) Self-employment (small enterprise) income in manufactures is very minor, probably due to the ease of obtaining manufactured goods from urban industries and imports. Wage employment constitutes the bulk of RNFI (despite it receiving little attention in development programs and debate). (e) Three-quarters of RNFI is in the service sector, and only one-quarter is from manufactures; that can be contrasted with the emphasis on small manufactures enterprises in rural development programs and research. (f) Education, road access, as well as access to electricity and water were found to be important to nonfarm incomes.

Cossaro, K., & United States. Office of Vocational and Adult Education. (1981). Rural education programs that work: sharing ideas. Washington, D.C.: Office of Vocational and Adult Education Dept. of Education. Ed 1.310/2:212402

Costantini, M., Balzi, D., Garronec, E., Orlandini, C., Parodi, S., Vercelli, M., Bruzzi, P., & Correspondence:, D. M. C. (January 2000). Geographical variations of place of death among Italian communities suggest an inappropriate hospital use in the terminal phase of cancer disease. Public Health, 114(1), 15-20(16). This study aimed to assess geographic variations of place of death among Italian communities, to investigate the determinants of home death, and to examine trends in the proportion of home deaths over a period of 8 y. A cross-sectional analysis was performed on 13 provinces from two Italian regions (Liguria and Toscana), and the geographic variations and determinants of home death were studied for the 17 597 residents, who died of cancer in 1991. Trends for both the regions of the proportion of home deaths were examined for the period 1987 and 1995. A remarkable heterogeneity in the observed proportion of home deaths among the 13 provinces was observed, ranging between 31.4 and 40.4 in Liguria and between 37.7 and 73.3 in Toscana. The estimated proportion of home deaths after adjustment for age, gender, marital status, education, place of birth, characteristics of the living area, and cancer site remained substantially the same. The proportion of home deaths significantly increased with increasing age, and years of education. It was higher among females, married and widowed patients, native patients, and for residents in a semi-urban or rural areas. A significant decrease in the percentage of patients who died at home between 1987 and 1995 in both regions was observed. The wide geographical and social differences observed between and within the communities for the frequency of home deaths are not explained by the distribution of known determinants, and possibly suggest patterns of inappropriate hospital admissions in the terminal phase of disease. Public Health (2000) 114, 15-20

Cowher, S. J. (1994). Rural Education Initiatives: Preparation for a Changing Workforce. Paper presented at the Human Services in the Rural Environment, 18, 2, 18-20 Fall 1994. Stresses the importance of developing rural education initiatives that address the changing workforce in rural areas and the accompanying need for career preparation beyond high school. Describes a program at Edinboro University (Pennsylvania) that prepares rural high school students for career decision making and builds connections between rural youth and colleges in rural areas. (LP) EJ546393

Cox, C. G., White, D., Brinson, H., & Ramey, D. (10 August 2000). Distance learning: health education for ninth-grade students. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 6(4), 8-10(13). A telehealth programme for schools was established by staff at the East Carolina University schools of nursing, health education, social work, nutrition, education and medicine, in conjunction with the Eastern Area Health Education Center. A health education curriculum was developed for rural high schools using the North Carolina Information Highway for delivery. A Web page provided additional resources for teachers, teenagers and health professionals. Four telehealth sessions were conducted over three years: two with the pilot school and two with a second school on-line simultaneously. A total of 76 ninth-grade students completed the courses. Evaluation indicated successful outcomes in student learning. Respondents to a follow-up survey of members of the first telehealth class had positive comments about the experience. Utilization of the Web page increased steadily from 1997.

Crittenden, R. (1999). Commentary--The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and Rural Training Supported by Medicare Graduate Medical Education Funds. Journal of Rural Health, 15(1), 21.

Cruz-Dona, R. D., & Martina, A. (1 October 2000). Some Links Between Education, Household Well-being and Credit Markets: Evidence from Rural Philippines. Oxford Development Studies, 28(3), 289-308(220). Two diverse Filipino village communities were intensively surveyed and then focus-group discussions were held among their members. These discussions indicated that members of the less well-off community, compared with the one which was better-off, see fewer benefits to be derived from investing in education. This information has implications for determining how the level of community well-being should be measured. In addition, those households with better access to credit and basic infrastructure invested more in the education of children. This insight suggests how the design of poverty-alleviation expenditure programmes might be improved in rural Philippines at least.

Cunningham, L. E., Michielutte, R., Dignan, M., Sharp, P., & Boxley, J. (February 2000). The value of process evaluation in a community-based cancer control program. Evaluation and Program Planning, 23(1), 13-25(13). The Cancer Awareness Program was a four-year community health education project conducted in six rural North Carolina counties. The educational program was designed to increase breast, cervical, and skin cancer screening behaviors in low income women. Female clients of the health department in each county, aged 20 and older, were eligible for the program. Program intervention activities were targeted both to the health departments and to the individual women, in addition to the community. Intervention activities included media messages, telephone counseling of participants, community presentations, printed materials, bulletin boards, and direct education. Process evaluation allowed for regular monitoring of all program components, identifying any areas in need of modification, and was developed for the long distance supervision of the project as well. Measures consisted of videotaping of presentations, meetings with key individuals and staff, participant evaluations and feedback, focus groups, and weekly activity reports from staff. The results of the process evaluation enabled investigators to pinpoint effective intervention components that led to desired results. In addition, it allowed investigators to define areas in need of modification, and adjust specific components. Final evaluation of the project indicated that the intervention significantly increased participation in screening for skin cancer and breast cancer. Included in the paper are the purposes of each process method, problems identified, and their resolution. Suggestions are made for use of process evaluation in community health education programs.

Curran, V. R. (September 2000). An Eclectic Model for Evaluating Web-Based Continuing Medical Education Courseware Systems. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 23(3), 318-347(330). World Wide Web and compact disc-read only memory technologies have introduced new prospects for delivering continuing medical education (CME) to rural and remote physicians. However, evidence concerning the effectiveness of these technologies in providing CME, and approaches to their evaluation, is limited. The rationale for this study was to design a model for evaluating the effectiveness of computer-mediated CME courseware. An eclectic evaluation planning matrix was designed by selecting various concepts from the literature and was used in planning and developing the evaluation model. The model was field-tested by evaluating a computer-mediated courseware program on dermatological office procedures, and a metaevaluation was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the evaluation methods and procedures. The findings suggest that the model was useful in collecting data to inform decision making and to improve the instructional product. The field test results revealed that computer-mediated instruction was effective in delivering CME at a distance.

Curtner-Smith, M., Todorovich, J. R., McCaughtry, N. A., & Lacon, S. A. (June 2001). Urban teachers' use of productive and reproductive teaching styles within the confines of the National Curriculum for Physical Education. European Physical Education Review, 7(2), 177-190(114). The main purpose of this study was to describe the teaching styles employed by a sample of 18 teachers working in an urban setting under the conditions of the first revision of the National Curriculum for Physical Education. A second purpose was to compare the teaching styles used by this urban sample of teachers with those employed by a rural sample we had studied previously. Two lessons taught by each teacher to pupils in Years 7, 8, or 9 during one summer term were videotaped and coded with the Instrument for Identifying Teaching Styles, a systematic observation instrument designed to record the percentages of time in which teachers employ each of eight teaching styles. Descriptive statistics were computed across all 36 lessons and for lessons on striking/fielding games, track and field events, and tennis. Independent t-tests were used to compare the teaching styles used by the urban sample of teachers in the present study and those used by the rural sample previously studied. Results indicated that the teachers in the present study spent most of their time using direct styles of teaching. Their pattern of teaching style use was very similar to that of the rural teachers observed in the earlier study. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed.

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Chen, H.-S., Guo, F.-R., Chen, C.-Y., Chen, J.-H., & Kuo, T.-S. (May 2001). Review of telemedicine projects in Taiwan. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 61(2), 117-129(113). Taiwan is a heavily populated country, with a small land area and many mountains and isolated islands. Because medical resources are unequally distributed, high quality accessible medical care is a major problem in rural areas. Medical personnel are unwilling to practice in rural areas because of fear of isolation from peers and lack of continuing medical education (CME) in those areas. Telemedicine provides a timeless and spaceless measure for teleconsultation and education. The development of telemedicine in Taiwan began under the National Information Infrastructure (NII) Project. Distance education and teleconsultation were the first experimental projects during the initiation research stage. The cost and effectiveness of the hardware and network bandwidth were evaluated. In the promotion research stage, applications in different medical disciplines were tested to promote multipoint videoconference, electronic journals and VOD. Investigation of user satisfaction put on more emphasis on improving application functions. In 1998, a new Cyber Medical Center (CMC) international collaboration project was begun, integrating technologies of multimedia, networking, database management, and the World Wide Web. The aim of the CMC is to create a multimedia network system for the management of electronic patient records, teleconsultation, online continuing medical education, and information services on the web. A Taiwan mirror site of Virtual Hospital and two international telemedicine trials through Next Generation Internet (NGI) were done at the end of 1998. In the future, telemedicine systems in Taiwan are expected to combine the Internet and broadband CATV, ADSL, and DBS networking to connect clinics, hospitals, insurance organizations, and public health administrations; and, finally, to extend to every household.

Chen, Y.-F., Dewey, M. E., & Avery, A. J. (April 2001). Self-reported medication use for older people in England and Wales. Journal of Clinical Pharmacy & Therapeutics, 26(2), 129-140(112). Objectives: To describe the patterns of self-reported medication use, including both prescription and non-prescription drugs, for older people in five areas in England and Wales, and to identify the effects of socio-demographic features on medication use.Design: A cross-sectional survey on population random samples of people aged 65 and over. The survey is a part of the screening interviews at the first stage of the Medical Research Council Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (MRC CFAS) carried out between 1991 and 1994. The sample was stratified to provide equal numbers in the 65-74 years and 75 years and over age groups.Setting: Three urban (Newcastle, Nottingham and Oxford) and two rural (Cambridgeshire and Gwynedd) centres. Older people living in both the general community and institutions were included.Participants: 12489 older people whose medication data were collected among the 13009 participants of the CFAS, of which the participation rate is 80.Results: Overall prevalence of medication use was 75 (95 confidence interval 74-76) for people aged 65-74 and 84 (83-85) for people aged 75 and over, with a mean number of 203 (standard deviation 195) and 247 (202) drugs reported per respondent in each group, respectively. Concurrent use of five or more drugs (polypharmacy) was found in 11 (10-12) of people in the 65-74 age group and in 15 (14-16) in the 75 and over age group. People aged 75 and over were more likely to be taking at least one drug than people aged 65-74 (OR=169, 154-185), and women were more likely to be so compared with men (OR=143, 130-156). Centre variation was found but none of the centres consistently showed higher or lower usage of medications across the major drug categories. People living in institutions were more likely to be taking gastrointestinal drugs, central nervous system drugs and experience polypharmacy. The use of respiratory and central nervous system drugs (except hypnotics and anxiolytics) increased in lower social class and decreased in people attending full-time education for 10 years or more. The use of haematology/dietetic drugs (85 of which were vitamin and mineral preparations) decreased in lower social class.Conclusion: This study provides representative estimates of medication usage among older people in England and Wales and identified associated factors and regional variations for medication use in a category-specific manner. The findings, suggesting the existence of centre variation and the association between type of accommodation, social class and medication use warrant further investigation.

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Darkwa, O. (1 June 2000). An exploratory survey of the applications of telemedicine in Ghana. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 6(3), 177-183(177). We examined the use of telemedicine at two major medical institutions in Ghana. Doctors and administrators were surveyed to assess their knowledge of computers and familiarity with telemedicine. The use of modern telecommunications and information technology products within the health service was also examined. Thirty questionnaires were distributed to staff at the two hospitals, one urban and one rural. Twenty were returned (a response rate of 67%). Although most of the respondents were computer literate, they were less familiar with telemedicine applications. Only a minority of the respondents were participating in an information-sharing network, transmitting information by fax or telephone, or had Internet access. Financial constraint appeared to be the major barrier to establishing information-sharing networks. Other constraints were technological and organizational. The respondents expressed an interest in using telemedicine, having access to health-care databases and specific telemedicine applications such as tele-education and videoconferencing. Staff in the urban hospital were more likely to be familiar with telemedicine and more likely to have access to information technology than those in the rural hospital.

Darnell, F. (1992). Adequacy and Equity: Prerequisites to Excellence