Rural Middle School Student Homework Management

A recently article from "The Journal of Research in Rural Education" makes the a contribution to our understanding of differences between rural and nonrural students. Authors Janzhong Xu and Lyn Corno examine homework management by middle schools students. I'm not too crazy about the definition they use for rural, but it follows standard conventions. They note that using data from only one school limits the generalizability of their findings.

Differences identified by Xu and Corno include:

"Urban students reported taking significantly more initiative in time management, focusing attention, and monitoring motivation than they did in arranging their environment or in controlling their emotions."

"Rural students ... reported taking significantly more initiative in arranging their homework environment, managing time, and focusing attention than they did in monitoring motivation or in controlling their emotions."

"Urban students took significantly less initiative in arranging their environment, while rural students took significantly less initiative in monitoring their motivation."

Xu and Corno also provide plausible explanations for the differences. You can read about them at http://www.umaine.edu/jrre/21-2.htm