ABSTRACT
Rural education has become the poor country cousin of education leaders unconcerned about rural issues and rural leaders unconcerned about education issues. This chapter outlines the elements of a research and action agenda for rural education which is both theoretically sound and operationally feasible. Decisions about pedagogical practices, faculty selection, educational philosophy, curriculum design, and most other substantive educational issues have been the traditional province of local jurisdictions. Accordingly, state and federal education agencies have opted to assume major responsibilities for the formulation and implementation of policies about structural issues in education. Structural reform basically has two components: changes in educational finance and changes in school and district organization. Among financial issues, highest priority must be given to the continuation and expansion of state-level school finance reform. Curriculum design has traditionally been a haphazard affair in rural schools. Few observers of rural education would contest that outdated texts and irrelevant curricula have become the norm in America's rural schools.
