Dear Fellow Rural Educator,

The Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia (SPERA) will be holding its 25^th National Conference in July 2009.

Please find attached the Call for Papers and Guideline for submission. Additional information can be obtained from the SPERA website: www.spera.edu.au

I write to ask you support in sending the information about this Australian Rural Education Conference to your colleague.

Please find a summary of information about the conference below:

The 2009 SPERA Conference will be held at Flinders University in South Australia from 8-10 July 2009. The theme of the conference builds on the 2008 Melbourne Conference -

Education in A Digital Present: Enriching Rural Communities.

You are invited to submit an abstract outlining your proposed paper or presentation – topic; context; type of paper presentation e.g. Powerpoint; refereed paper; non refereed paper; other and presenter(s) Please limit abstracts to a maximum of 300 words.

An official “call for papers” is attached for you outlining relevant topics.

Attached also are the Guidelines for both refereed and non-refereed papers.

Important dates:

Deadline for submission of abstracts and proposals February 6 2009

Notice of acceptance and invitation to prepare final paper February 20 2009

Deadline for submission of full papers requiring refereeing March 27 2009
Deadline for submission of full paper not requiring refereeing May 1 2009

Thank you

Colin Boylan, PhD

Senior Lecturer in Education

Associate Director, Consortium for Rural Social Research

Phone (02) 6933-2495

Fax (02) 6933-2888

call for papers.pdf

2009 National Rural Education Conference
8-10 July 2009 FLINDERS UNIVERSITY, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Education in A
Digital Present:
Enriching Rural
Communities
• Strategies & tools for
effective on-line / digital
learning / teaching
• Using technology
creatively
• Supporting rural students
• Students & learning
• Case studies / research /
practical advice/real-life
examples etc
• Blended learning

CALL FOR PAPERS
Submission of Abstracts
Abstracts and papers are to be written in English. The abstract should contain clear
information about the aims, nature and content of the paper and, where applicable, a brief
statement of results and implications. It should not exceed one A4 page in length (300-500
words, 11 pt Times). Both the title of the paper/ presentation and the names of the
authors(s) should be included.

Evaluation of Abstracts
After review by the program committee, notification of whether the paper has been accepted
will be sent to the author(s), at which time successful presenters will be asked for their audio
visual requirements.

Refereeing of Papers:
For Australian presenters, conference papers can be refereed to comply with the
requirements for DEST E1 Conference paper status. Presenters requiring papers to be
refereed must make this request when the abstract is submitted.

Important dates:
Deadline for submission of abstracts and proposals February 6 2009
Notice of acceptance and invitation to prepare final paper February 20 2009
Deadline for submission of full papers requiring refereeing March 27 2009
Deadline for submission of full paper not requiring refereeing May 1 2009

Conference Contact Details:
Conference Papers Coordinator Conference details
Dr Colin Boylan Visit: www.spera.edu.au
Phone (02) 6933-2495
Email: cboylan@csu.edu.au

SPERA 2009 Refereed Paper dates and Formatting guidelines (2).doc

Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia Inc.

Guidelines for written presentation of refereed papers

• The submission deadline for refereed papers is 27 March 2009.

• The preferred word processing package is Microsoft WORD 2003. Your paper must be saved in Rich Text Format (RTF) and be submitted to the SPERA website via presenter log-on and then upload your full paper. Do not save your article in pdf format.

• The maximum file size for your uploaded full refereed paper is 3MB. If your paper is greater in size, please contact Colin Boylan directly at: cboylan@csu.edu.au

• The text of the paper is to be 11 point and all text typed in TIMES New Roman font.

• Papers should be no longer than fifteen (15) A4 pages at single spacing, including tables, figures, diagrams, references, and appendices.

• The text of the paper must be left and right justified.

• Page margins must be 2.5cm left and right, plus 2.0cm top.

• The paper title is to be typed in 14 point and bold. The author(s) and affiliation(s) are to be typed in 12 point and bold.

• An abstract should be indented 1cm at both left and right hand margins.

• Use 11 point bold for sub-headings within the text. Use 11 point bold or italics for emphasis - not underlining. The use of footnotes is to be avoided.

• Graphs, tables and diagrams should be included at the place in the text of the paper where you wish them to appear.

• References must be included at the end of the paper in alphabetical order. The same spacing as used in the text of the paper is to be used. The APA (5^th Edition) system is to be used.

• References in the text of the paper should give the author's name and year of publication in brackets eg (Brown, 1996).

• References to a book are to include - author's surname, initials, year of publication (bracketed), title of book (italicised), where published, publisher's name. For example, Brown, C. (1996). Rural schools. Wagga Wagga: Oxford Press.

• References from journals are to include - author's surname, initials, year of publication (bracketed), title of article, journal title (italicised), volume, number (bracketed), page reference. For example, Boylan, C. (1996). Practice teaching in a distance education centre. Education in Rural Australia, 6(1), 37-41.

• References to a web site are to include, if available - author’s surname, initials, date (bracketed), title of document, date document was viewed, and URL of the site. For example, Smith, L. (2002) The rural landscape. http://www.ruraleducation.nsw.gov.au/html. (Accessed 10th May 2009)

Additional advice: Contact Colin Boylan at cboylan@csu.edu.au or Phone (02) 6933-2495

Papers included in the Conference Proceedings become the copyright of the Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia Inc.

SPERA 2009 Non Refereed paper dates and formatting guidelines (2) (2).doc

Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia Inc.

Guidelines for written presentation of non-refereed papers

• The submission deadline for non-refereed papers is 1 May 2009.

• The preferred word processing package is Microsoft WORD 2003. Your paper must be saved in Rich Text Format (RTF) and be submitted to the SPERA website via presenter log-on and then upload your full paper. Do not save your article in pdf format.

• The maximum file size for your uploaded full refereed paper is 3MB. If your paper is greater in size, please contact Colin Boylan directly at: cboylan@csu.edu.au

• The text of the paper is to be 11 point and all text typed in TIMES New Roman font.

• Papers should be no longer than fifteen (15) A4 pages at single spacing, including tables, figures, diagrams, references, and appendices.

• The text of the paper must be left and right justified.

• Page margins must be 2.5cm left and right, plus 2.0cm top.

• The paper title is to be typed in 14 point and bold. The author(s) and affiliation(s) are to be typed in 12 point and bold.

• An abstract should be indented 1cm at both left and right hand margins.

• Use 11 point bold for sub-headings within the text. Use 11 point bold or italics for emphasis - not underlining. The use of footnotes is to be avoided.

• Graphs, tables and diagrams should be included at the place in the text of the paper where you wish them to appear.

• References must be included at the end of the paper in alphabetical order. The same spacing as used in the text of the paper is to be used. The APA (5^th Edition) system is to be used.

• References in the text of the paper should give the author's name and year of publication in brackets eg (Brown, 1996).

• References to a book are to include - author's surname, initials, year of publication (bracketed), title of book (italicised), where published, publisher's name. For example, Brown, C. (1996). Rural schools. Wagga Wagga: Oxford Press.

• References from journals are to include - author's surname, initials, year of publication (bracketed), title of article, journal title (italicised), volume, number (bracketed), page reference. For example, Boylan, C. (1996). Practice teaching in a distance education centre. Education in Rural Australia, 6(1), 37-41.

• References to a web site are to include, if available - author’s surname, initials, date (bracketed), title of document, date document was viewed, and URL of the site. For example, Smith, L. (2002) The rural landscape. http://www.ruraleducation.nsw.gov.au/html. (Accessed 10th May 2009)

Additional advice: Contact Colin Boylan at cboylan@csu.edu.au or Phone (02) 6933-2495

Papers included in the Conference Proceedings become the copyright of the Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia Inc.

Tags: AERA, small schools, rural, education, SPERA, Australian National Rural Education Conference

Labels: AERA, Australian National Rural Education Conference, education, rural, small schools, SPERA

According to the August 2008 issue of District Administration, the mean of average rural superintendent salaries is far below that of small town, suburban, and urban superintendents'. In large urban areas, the mean of the average salary of superintendents is $218, 879; in medium urban areas, $176,274; in the suburbs, $165,101; and in small towns, $126,225. The mean of average salaries for rural superintendents is $96,942.

Tags: AERA, small schools, rural, education

Labels: AERA, education, rural, small schools

Dissertation Award in Rural Education

Sponsored by

the American Educational Research Association

Special Interest Group in Rural Education

Fully one-quarter of American schoolchildren live in rural communities. The AERA SIG in Rural Education seeks to promote and recognize rigorous research among new scholars that can influence policy and practice to improve the educational lives of these children. The Rural Ed SIG seeks nominations for its 7^th Dissertation of the Year Award. The winner of the award will be recognized at the Rural SIG reception at the Annual AERA Meeting in April, 2009 in San Diego.

Eligibility: Doctoral dissertations completed between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2008.

The awards committee will accept nominations from any research tradition in education, sociology, history, and other fields, and in which the rural context is prominent in the conception, research design, execution, conclusions, and recommendations (if any). Dissertations in which the word rural is uncommon are not likely to qualify to be judged. Authors are encouraged to nominate their own works; nomination by another scholar is unnecessary and it is not considered a substantive advantage.

The nomination must include the dissertation author’s current contact information (postal address, phone, email address, current work affiliation, and webpage if any) and the nominee's contact information (if not a self-nomination). In addition, the nomination must provide the name of institution, the relevant academic department, and exact date of the dissertation defense at which the study was accepted.

Please send nominations, an unbound copy of the complete dissertation (title page, text, abstract, reference list) and an electronic version on a CD-ROM by February 15, 2009 to the Award Committee Chair. Materials submitted become the property of the awards committee and cannot be returned to the author or nominator.

American Educational Research Association

Tags: AERA, small schools, rural, education

Labels: AERA, education, rural, small schools