The introduction, "Education and Local Development," provides a theme of rural education and development, with emphasis on widening the limits of programs and facilities to serve all age groups. International perspectives on rural education are infused into the 20 selected papers through the participation of several authorities from abroad. Four broad topics, with papers arranged from most general to specific are as follows: (1) "The Rural Situation in General" contains three papers that address quality, opportunity, and survival; (2) "The Community Situation" provides five papers dealing with community involvement, service centers, responsibilities, reorganisation and declining enrollments; (3) "The Financial Situation" offers four papers which provide a commonwealth perspective, a state perspective, and economic aspects or effectiveness; (4) "The In-School Situation" contains seven papers covering curriculum and staffing, pre-service teacher training, syllabus design, parental reaction, services and handicapped services. Conclusions provide suggestions for future efforts, emphasizing that they will need to be tractable and commensurate with specific needs of rural populations. Appendices provide the conference program and a description of the National Centre for Research on Rural Education. (AH)