The State Education Standard
Vol. 4, No. 1
Winter 2003

Feature Articles:
Helping Rural Schools Achieve Success

by Susan Collins
A message from the newly re-elected Senator from Maine.

Rural Schools and Communities Getting Better Together: Building on Assets

by Rachel B. Tompkins
Exploring the positive connections between rural schools and their communities.

 

Rural Education Today

by Al Eads
The challenges facing rural schools include consolidation, teacher quality, equitable funding, and adequate facilities. The president of the National Rural Education Association presents his views on these issues based on visits around the country.

 

Teacher Recruitment and Retention in Rural Schools

by Hobart L. Harmon
The job of finding and keeping teachers teachers in rural communities presents a special set of difficulties that requires new strategies by local administrators and new policies from states.

 

Rural Districts REAP New Money

by Mary Conk Kusler
How the Rural Education Achievement Program is bringing new dollars and flexibility to small and rural schools.

 

Consolidation at-a-Glance

 

Modern Schools in the 21st Century: Local, State, and Federal Responsibility

by Robert Canavan
The daunting need for school construction and repair funds, and how the federal Qualified Zone Academy Bonds can help.

Departments:
Editor's Note

Executive Summary
by NASBE Executive Director Brenda Welburn

The State Education Standard Annotated Index, 2000 - 2002
Washington Notebook
Surveying the federal education scene

Judicial Review
Rural School Districts Prevail Again Before Tennessee Supreme Court

The Policy Wonk
The art of state education policymaking.