Analysis of current literature indicates that the process and the outcome of social studies education in rural communities is little different from that in the rest of the country. Despite the excitement surrounding the "Foxfire" program in rural Georgia and the efforts of curriculum innovators, students in rural America are likely to encounter a rather ordinary social studies program. Curriculum materials deemed relevant to the lives of students are scarce in rural classrooms, and few teachers take advantage of community resources or develop their own materials. Studies show that rural youth learn citizenship and social studies knowledge, skills, and attitudes to about the same extent as the majority of their non-rural counterparts. Although rural schools as a class are well within the educational mainstream of the nation, some rural schools offer inferior or superior opportunities for learning. The quality of research done on rural social studies has varied widely, possibly because of the lack of financial support available for research in rural education. Large scale research projects such as the National Science Foundation studies need to be continued and should be used as models for replication in local rural communities. References are included for the 33 studies reviewed in this paper. (JHZ)