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In the last decade, unprecedented rates of job growth and improvements in adult education were accompanied by increased numbers of children living below the poverty line and a decline in real income for most families. There are several possible explanations: (1) a kind of job growth that produces disincentives for a significant number of people to invest in human capital; (2) an excessively narrow public and political definition of human capital and, therefore, less-than-optimal human capital investments; and (3) the absence of a mutually reinforcing "mix" of institutions (policies) that would provide greater incentives for public and private human capital investments and produce a greater return on investments made. This paper suggests that narrow policy definitions of human capital (as educational attainment) and institutional change (as school reform) are barriers to necessary human capital production. Public policy education can contribute to human capital production by providing the relatively accessible audience of local educational policymakers with research findings and knowledge that counter prevailing misconceptions about effective public education. The policy education process also includes encouraging an approach that integrates education and local community and economic development efforts. Contains 30 references. (JAT)

Recent changes in patterns of population location, industrial employment, and technology in the north central United States have produced implications for vocational education in rural areas. Missouri has greater social, cultural, demographic, and economic diversity than other states in the region, but is representative of the area for purposes of developing implications for rural vocational education. Area vocational schools are the primary means through which Missouri's rural students gain vocational training opportunities. About 70% of those who graduate from secondary and postsecondary programs are employed as trained. However, a demand for some services in rural areas is not being met; no vocational training programs exist for many of the more interesting and remunerative careers in rural communities because there is no mass market for the skill. To correct this, Missouri has experimented with a contract vocational education program of apprenticeship training. Trainers are community residents and employers who have skills for which there is a demand and no existing training program. In addition, a four-year secondary vocational agriculture program emphasizes general knowledge and entrepreneurship. Areas of projected rural employment growth include health care, accounting, computer technology, repair services, law enforcement, child care, transportation, retailing, and energy related careers. Statistical trends in population, income, economic base and education are detailed for the north central states. (CM)

Attention is being directed to telecommunications and computer technologies as a possible way of delivering education to small rural schools in a cost-effective way. Characteristics of new technology and environmental changes having particular relevance for rural schools include the abilities to transcend space, network, redefine learning as dynamic and interactive, and stimulate innovations and creativity. While adoption (purchase) of educational technologies is occurring quickly, the rate of creative application (use) depends upon whether the technology: can be tried first on a small scale; has compatability with existing behaviors and practices; is simple; has low cost and high effectiveness; and has a support system. Because of their small size and flexible, adaptive natures, rural schools--especially in Alaska and Australia--are becoming innovators in applications of technolgy and in networking. The Oklahoma State University Arts and Science Public Schools Teleconferencing Network and the Utah Department of Education Accelerated Learning of Spanish by Satellite programs involve state-of-the-art technology and share similar methodology, purpose, and delivery systems. Their use of multiple technologies, collaboration, and coordination represent important steps in addressing rural education's need to take cost-effective advantage of quality educational resources that fill a specific curriculum need, but are located elsewhere. (NEC)

During the past two decades, rural America has undergone substantial restructuring that affects both rural education and prospects for rural economic development. Rural restructuring has made rural America more economically dependent and more economically and socially diverse, has replaced relatively autonomous communities with regional units of social and economic function, and has triggered the incorporation of rural services into national systems. Prospects for growth in natural resource and goods producing industries (those that rural economies are most dependent on) are dim, but service employment will likely continue to grow. New rural development strategies should consider the job-creating potential of small business and entrepreneurship, especially in finding and filling local "niches," the importance of knowledge-based enterprise, and the need to create new networks and partnerships to support avenues of alternative development. To these ends, rural schools must provide sound basic education and train students to be innovative, to have multiple skills, and to work as members of small problem solving teams. There are also needs for continuing education, educational attention to the locality, and educational partnerships to improve both education and community development. School Based Development Enterprises have produced school-community economic development partnerships in rural areas across the country. Contains 117 references. (Author/SV)

Reviews nonmetropolitan regional demographic trends of the 1980s including population change, age distribution, migration by county type and age, effect of metropolitan proximity, changes in income and poverty, minority population, educational attainment, numbers of rural schools and school districts, and district enrollment. Suggests that nonmetropolitan America has become more heterogenous, with nonmetro schools confronting widely different local environmental effects. (SV)

During the farm crisis of the 1980s, many midwestern farm families suffered financial distress, but by 1989 an uneven financial recovery was under way. This report summarizes data collected from 192 Missouri farm operators (a 21% response rate) and 166 spouses (an 18% response rate) as part of a large survey conducted in 12 North Central states. The purpose of the survey was to identify farm families' adaptation pattern, information and educational needs, and opinions on rural development. Operators had an average age of 55.4 years. About 22% of farmers and 20% of spouses had some postsecondary education. In 1988, 5% of respondents had negative net family income, while 43% had family incomes between $1.00 and $19,999. About 89% of farms contained less than 500 acres. Most respondents believed that, over the last 5 years, local services, facilities, and quality of life factors had improved or stayed about the same; about 30% saw improvements in adult education opportunities and quality of schools. About 57% believed that financial conditions for farmers had gotten worse, and about 42% thought that conditions would continue to deteriorate. Most farmers responded to hard times by postponing major purchases or using savings for living expenses; 30% decreased savings for their children's education. About half of farmers and a third of spouses worked off the farm; 9% had participated in vocational education or retraining, but most thought it was unhelpful. Highly rated information and training needs were concerned with using new technologies and appropriate conservation techniques and reducing costs through low-input farming. Spouses were highly involved in farm operations and decisionmaking. This report contains 15 data tables. (SV)

Rural schools have had a traditional role as major vehicles of rural economic development. During the rapid economic changes of the 20th century rural schools supplied the literate migrants who flocked to the cities to become the human capital for urban based expansion. Rural schools also provided the literate farmers who stayed at home and instituted commercialized agriculture. Massive dislocations of people led to a significant depletion of capital in rural areas and a disadvantaged population of "people left behind". Now, research and policy attention is needed to redress inequities between rural and urban schools. The environment in which rural schools function has six points of differentiation from that of the city: (1) rural heterogeneity; (2) patterns of decision making or leadership in the community; (3) broader functions of the school; (4) less institutional separation within the community; (5) marked demographic and economic differences in the population; and (6) distinctive features of the rural economy. Rural schools also differ from their city counterparts as they face special problems with regard to staffing, curriculum, financing, vocational education, and the question of "best" school size. While rural schools should be an objective of rural development, they may also serve to contribute to it in a number of ways as they produce both economic and non-economic benefits to rural inhabitants. (DS)