Volume 27, Issue 3    Summer 2006

Table of Contents

From the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  iv

Adequate Yearly Progress in Small Rural Schools and Rural Low-Income Schools . . . . . . . . . . . .  1 Thomas W. Farmer, Man-Chi Leung, Jonathan Banks, Victoria Schaefer, Bruce Andrews, and Robert Allen Murray

ABSTRACT: Adequate yearly progress (AYP) on No Child Left Behind criteria was examined for a randomly selected sample of districts that qualify for the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP).  The sample involved 10% of districts that were eligible for the Small Rural Schools Achievement (SRSA) program and 10% that were eligible for the Rural and Low-income Schools (RLIS) program.  Based on district reports, nearly 80% of SRSA schools made AYP, 11% failed, and 11% did not have adequate data.  For schools in the RLIS program, districts reported that 65% made AYP, 29% failed, and 6% did not report adequate data.  The SRSA and RLIS samples had different patterns for the categories of students that did not make AYP.  Also, SRSA and RLIS districts were differentially distributed across the United States.  Implications for interventions are discussed.

An Inquiry into Retention and Achievement
Differences in Campus Based and Web Based AP Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8 Michael Barbour and Dennis Mulcahy

ABSTRACT: A decade ago the Advanced Placement (AP) program was introduced into the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Initially, schools embraced this opportunity to provide their students with opportunities that were previously unavailable. However, within a few years the AP program was relegated to urban and large regional high schools. Few smaller, and particularly rural schools, were able to offer AP courses only to the brightest one or two students taking it as an independent study. In 1997-98, schools began to delivery AP courses in a web-based method. The purpose of the study is to examine the retention rates and student achievement in AP courses in the province between different delivery models.

Speaking Their Truths: Teachers of Color in Diasporic Contexts  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Carmelita Castaneda, John Kambutu, and Francisco Rios

No ABSTRACT 

Creating Effective Schools Where All Students Can Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Christina Reagle

ABSTRACT: Helping schools create environments where all students can learn is a worthwhile mission for schools big and small. Both multi and single site districts agree that providing equitable and meaningful learning opportunities for every student is essential, but find this challenging and difficult. What are the systemic factors that limit educators in considering new educational paradigms that might structure schools differently, increase learning outcomes for a wider spectrum of students, and prepare students to meet the challenges of the 21^st century? All communities need graduates ready to face the world after high school, prepared to work, and ready to offer hope toward world and civic affairs.

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