SOUTHERN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS JULY, 1972 QUALITY OF SCHOOLING IN RURAL AREAS*

The report of the President's Commission on on simple correlations between measures of per Rural Poverty stressed the need for improvement in teacher expenditure and composite pupil achievement rural schools [4].Numerous studies have pointed to test scores. Test scores on the Iowa Test of this need for improvement and have identified ways Educational Development in North Dakota's school in which rural schools are inferior to urban schools. districts were found to be significantly correlated The current stress on rural development and with such expenditure measures as instructional costs, improved infrastructure in rural areas further operating cost less transportation, and total cost less supports the importance of this topic. But what is a transportation when these measures were expressed good measure of quality when schooling is being on a per teacher basis. considered? Research results from a study of Missouri schools Controversy over the Coleman report illustrates raise some questions about the validity of the lack of agreement among educators as to the expenditures per teacher as a proxy for measuring proper measures or standards [1]. Although quality. In this study, scores on the Ohio State economists have typically used achievement tests as University Psychological Tests were used as indicators measures of output, Gentis has raised questions of the quality of schooling provided. Practically all o