A review of research on rural/small schools' problems, prospects, and possible alternatives indicates that these schools find themselves in a cycle of financial trouble, community disintegration, and dwindling population; they face problems such as low tax base, lack of financial support by state and federal government, inadequate facilities and…

The problems, challenges, and opportunities of rural education are the focus of the fourteen speeches and nine workshops presented at the second annual conference on rural education, held February 1-2, 1979, in Des Moines, Iowa. Conference proceedings are presented in this newsletter in transcript or summary form. Speeches cover the topics of…