22p.; For related document,. see ED 256 530. Viewpoints (120)

Rural schools, which comprise 67 % as the nation's school systems, experience distinct educational envrdnmets and have unique strengths and weaknesses. Quality research to assess the effectivenesd of rural education has been hampered by inconsistently applied definitions of "rural ".and inadequate data to compare rural and urban districts. A,study conducted in 1984 by the National Rural' Education Research Consortium was the first comprehensive national effort to derive an empirical data base for rural education research priorities. This synthesis of the larger study reviews methodology, lists the nine resulting research priority'clusters and the questions,related,to each cluster, and outlines implications for federal government, state agencies, higher education institutions, rural schools and students, and data dissemination. The nine rank-ordered research 'clusters are listed As rural school effectiveness, governance and finance, staff training needs (technology as a resource), teaching styles and incentives, field-based personne