The Rural Entrepreneurship Teaching Unit (RETU) is designed to acquaint university retailing and hospitality majors with rural entrepreneurship opportunities. The unit is an outcome of a federal grant focused on the contribution of the local retail sector to rural community resilience. The RETU integrates knowledge regarding rural development,…

Service learning is a teaching tool in which students apply classroom skills to solve real problems in their communities. Community service becomes service learning when it is connected to classroom learning and contains opportunities for students to reflect upon their experiences. In addition to enhancing learning through experience, service…

PACERS Small Schools Cooperative, a 29-school cooperative in rural Alabama, operates an innovative program in which student projects both serve the community and preserve community traditions. Describes how information technology enables the advantages of small schools to flower. Discusses addressing policies and mindsets that hinder development…

This is the first of a series of issue papers that discuss ways in which rural communities and schools can work together to guarantee their students the best education possible. By working together, rural schools and communities can not only improve education, but revitalize the entire community. The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory is…

A significant theme in the literature on rural education is the extreme interdependence between rural schools and rural communities. Belief in this interdependence has led to a number of initiatives focused on strengthening both student learning and the local community's economic and social resources. Most of these initiatives involve some degree…

Available in English or Spanish, this resource guide aims to help rural schools and communities learn ways of supporting each other so that both can thrive. Background information and basic tools are provided for starting a joint school-community development effort. Chapters contain: (1) outline of the guide and statement of beliefs about…

This report illustrates how community service learning can be used as a vehicle for achieving the goals of education and youth development and, concurrently, how it is highly consistent with the goals of systemic educational reform, particularly in rural schools and communities. Part 1 covers the definition of service learning as a method of…