Struggling With Their Histories: Economic Decline and Educational Improvement in Four Rural Southeastern School Districts (Interpretive Perspectives on Education and Policy)
by Alan J. DeYoung
Category: Education

This monograph draws on case studies of school-community partnership projects in four rural southeastern school districts in order to elaborate a thorough description of school contextual factors in the rural Southeast. In 1986, Appalachia Educational Labaoratory (AEL), one of nine federally funded research and development laboratories, received funding as part of a "rural initiative" to address economic decline and educational opportunities in rural areas. The following year, AEL implemented demonstration projects in Braxton County (West Virginia), Charlotte County (Virginia), and two Tennessee and Kentucky counties identified by pseudonyms. The goal of the 2-year project was to help rural schools and communities identify problem areas for school improvement and to analyze community and economic factors contributing to economic decline. Chapter 1 describes methodologies, focal concerns, and project implementation. Chapters 2-5 present the four case studies, focusing on community and school leadership dynamics and providing a historical analysis of each county's economic, political, and sociological context. The last chapter expands on the general theme that previous and current social, economic, and political conditions surrounding rural schools affect present educational conditions and school improvement strategies and practices. This chapter also describes recent (1990) dynamics in each county and assesses school improvement practices implemented by AEL. Contains references and author and subject indexes. (LP)