Rural Students at Risk in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas
Concluding Remarks
There is currently a great deal of focus upon the Goals 2000: Educate America Act of 1994. This act proposes eight national goals for public school education to attain by the year 2000. These goals state that by the year 2000:
- all children in America will start school ready to learn;
- the high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent;
- all students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 having demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter including English, mathematics, science, foreign language, civics and government, economics, art, history, and geography, and every school in America will ensure that all students learn to use their minds well, so they may be prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment in our Nation's modern economy;
- the Nation's teaching force will have access to programs for the continued improvement of their professional skills and the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to teach to an increasingly diverse student population with a variety of educational, social, and health needs;
- United States students will be first in the world in science and mathematics achievement;
- every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship;
- every school in the United States will be free of drugs, violence, and the unauthorized presence of firearms and alcohol and will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning;
- every school will promote partnerships that will increase parental involvement and participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children.
This act also potentially identifies a great majority of children who attend school in rural communities as at-risk in that it defines an at-risk student as one "who, because of limited English proficiency, poverty, race, geographic location, or economic disadvantage, faces a greater risk of low educational achievement or reduced academic expectations" (U. S. House of Representatives Report 103-446, pp. 99-100). This phrase, "geographic location," suggests that students who live in remote, isolated areas, where many resources are limited or absent altogether, are at least as much at risk of not achieving these educational goals as those who live in inner-city urban areas.
If America is, indeed, to become a leading nation in terms of the educational achievement of its children and youth, attention must be paid not only to those who live in metropolitan areas, but also to those who live in rural areas and small towns. With a great deal of creativity and hard work, these areas can become just as effective as those cities which have significant problems, but also manifold resources.
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