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Citation:

Perroncel, C. B. (2000). Getting kids ready for school in rural America. Charleston, WV: Appalachia Regional Educational Laboratory. ED445849.

Annotation:
This report focuses on the problems and challenges children in rural communities face as they make the transition from home to kindergarten. Challenges arise because there is a scarcity of local resources and greater geographic distance between people and services. The authors use the Goals 2000 literature as their framework to conduct a critical analysis of how the goals are even more difficult to attain for schools and families in rural communities. This report demonstrates that rural schools are not ready to help children of different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds develop their individual abilities. The authors note that rural residents are uniting to bring greater visibility to their needs by policymakers. While the article cites the lack of child care, poverty, lack of health care, and lower tax base as problems in the rural school community, the authors suggest six strategies for helping rural children succeed: (1) support high-quality and developmentally appropriate programs; (2) assess children appropriately; (3) link community resources; (4) encourage joint staff development with other districts; (5) offer parent training and support; and (6) improve access to quality health care.