This collection of essays on rural education in the United States aims to fill a gap in the educational literature by highlighting the available research on rural schools and their contexts. The three sections of the book focus on the historical, social, political, and economic contexts of rural education; topics of practical interest for rural practitioners; and the future of American rural schooling. The chapters are: (1) "Historical Scholarship in Nineteenth Century Rural Education" (Paul Theobald); (2) "Adult Education and Rural America: An Analysis of Selected Topics and Sources" (Harvey G. Neufeldt, James E. Akenson); (3) "The Rural Education Dilemma As Part of the Rural Dilemma: Rural Education and Economics" (Craig Howley); (4) "Identifying, Recruiting, Selecting, Inducting, and Supervising Rural Teachers" (Dwight Hare); (5) "The Organization and Reorganization of Small Rural Schools" (David H. Monk); (6) "Technological Delivery Systems and Applications for K-12 Instruction in Rural Schools" (Bruce O. Barker); (7) "Meeting the Needs of Special Student Populations in Rural Locales" (Terry R. Berkeley, Barbara L. Ludlow); (8) "Equality of Educational Opportunity in Rural America" (Margaret S. Phelps, George Allen Prock); (9) "Resources in Rural Education" (Teri A. Lipinski); (10) "A Proposed Federal and State Policy Agenda for Rural Education in the Decade of the 1990s" (E. Robert Stephens, Willis J. Perry); (11) "Rural Grassroots School Organizations: Their Agendas for Education" (Paul Nachtigal); and (12) "Why Reform Doesn't Apply: Creating a New Story about Education in Rural America" (Toni Haas). Contains an index. (SV)