ABSTRACT
Rural education research needs seem to very clear and straightforward in contrast to a policy world generally characterized by both complexities and ambiguities. After looking at educational results in small and large schools, Roger G. Barker and Paul V. Gump concluded that small schools often have distinct educational advantages and that policies should favor maintaining small community schools. Education has seldom been improved by a process where theoretical studies are conducted in isolation from school settings and the findings then somehow applied. Foxfire projects, which emphasize the use of local people as experts on various matters and treat local knowledge as inherently worthy, have the distinct educational advantages of enhancing student esteem and motivation, teaching students useful skills, and fostering good relations between the school and the community. The urban bias in federal education program regulations is endemic-and painfully familiar to rural school administrators who must compete for limited resources with large metropolitan districts and their array of administrative specialists.
