Volume 1 (1982-83)

The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of four preschool experiences on seven readiness skill areas. The preschool experiences included no treatment,a home based program,a formal preschool program,and a combination of the latter two programs. The seven dependent variable readiness skills were verbal memory, fine motor skill (draw a design), numerical memory,conceptual grouping, gross motor skill (leg coordination),a composite of the five areas and receptive language. Analyses of. variance and Scheffe procedures were used to analyze data. The group receiving the combination program differed positively and significantly from the other groups in both numerical memory and conceptual grouping. A similar finding was observed in conceptual grouping for the home based program group.It was concludedthata cooperative home/school bond is important for improving preschool readiness skills.It was further concluded that a home basedprogramcan provide important experiences related to child development in geographical areas where formal preschool programs are not available.

This paper describes a model of relative ruralness for rural states and applies it to North Dakota.From the model, descriptions of the principals and the districts were generated. Comparisons between principals and districts by ruralness are made. Further research is suggested.

This paper describes the use of folklore (the telling of tales, stories, etc.) by school administrators in five rural Alaskan communities as a tool for communication of complex cultural issues. It is suggested that occupational phenomena as well as cross-cultural ideas are communicated and that such communication is important in recruiting and retaining school administrators in such settings

There is clear evidence from vocational education enrollments and employment statistics from rural states which shows traditional values to be highly resistant to change regarding females in non-traditional skill/trade areas. These data dramatically demonstrate the need for special programs that can produce changes in attitudes, beliefs, values and behavior on the part of local rural schools and communities leading to greater female enrollment in non-traditional vocational educational programs. An examination of existing programs indicates none specifically focus on the issues discussed above from a systematic approach to change in rural educational systems. This paper suggests a model for sex equity in vocational education in rural education systems. The model recognizes the uniqueness of rural education systems and builds upon these facets to bring about change. This model incorporates all components of a rural education system to interact in the development of programs that will help remove sex-role stereotyping in rural school systems.

This paper describes the results of a study assessing the impact on field independence-dependence of decoding as a component of reading instruction for 225 first graders.Such drill appears to affect the ability to disembed,a component of field independence-dependence,but not to affect the ability to identify verticality.