Education in Small Schools of Pennsylvania

About the Book

Education in Small Schools of Pennsylvania addresses the problems that have plagued education in the past and the most recent problems in education. Each chapter of the book contains one major problem facing education in small schools of Pennsylvania today. The first part of the chapter presents the controversy surrounding the topic, involving the ongoing debate found in the media. More importantly, the second section provides the answers to these issues, which are found by utilizing educational research and the experience of the author. Many of the problems facing the small schools can be solved without money. For the most part, educational problems can be solved using logical and pragmatic solutions.

The family in America has changed, and this has translated into the public schools being the fundamental environment responsible in dealing with most of the problems facing the family unit. The schools can not do it alone. The new thinking is that the community should be made aware of the problems of the small schools and should be included in the solutions.

This book contains the author's 25 years of experience in the small public schools of Pennsylvania. It is unique, in that, many of the problems of the public schools can be solved using new methods but without new money.

This work is concerned mostly with small schools in Pennsylvania; however, the issues are national in scope. The specific audience is parents, educators, administrators, school board members, educational advocate groups and the growing number of the public who are concerned with improving education for the children in our schools.

About the Author

I graduated from a small school in Pennsylvania and received my doctorate in education from West Virginia University. After teaching college in New York City, I returned to the small school environment and continued teaching there for 25 years.

My wife Judy and I manage apartment buildings, one of which previously served as the local high school in a small town. I have two children, Bryan, an environmental biologist, and Janine, who is also a teacher in a small school.

~James D. DiFebo