Document Type
Section VI Article
Abstract
Iowa has historically held firmly to two basic, but contradictory assumptions about its schools. The first assumption is that Iowa's schools and their students are the best, or at least among the best, in the nation. The second assumption is that Iowa has too many small schools to provide a top quality education for its students. The past decade has witnessed an unprecedented attack on the quality of education provided by Iowa schools. The roots of that assault may be traced to two factors.
"A Nation At Risk" created a national concern with the quality of education provided children. While most of the issues and concerns about the quality of education raised by "A Nation At Risk" do not apply to Iowa's schools, Iowa schools have been victimized by this and similar reports. The second factor is the economic recession in the upper Midwest which had an especially negative impact on Iowa's economy in the mid 1980's. Declining state revenues and declining populations have raised valid questions about the efficiency of schools, specifically small schools in Iowa. These two issues, educational quality and financial efficiency have become intertwined and often confused.
Journal Title
Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series
Volume
1
Issue
1
First Page
108
Last Page
110
Publisher
Institute for Educational Leadership, University of Northern Iowa
City
Cedar Falls, IA
Copyright
©1990 North Central Regional Educational Laboratory and the University of Northern Iowa
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Judkins, Marvin
(1990)
"Section VI: Redesigning Iowa Rural Schools: Sharing, Restructuring or Consolidating [Judkins],"
Institute for Educational Leadership Monograph Series: Vol. 1:
No.
1, Article 40.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/iel_monographs/vol1/iss1/40
