TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Students, teachers, and other educators from across Alabama will gather on The University of Alabama campus April 25 for the annual PACERS Small Schools Conference. Participants will address issues paramount to small rural schools and will collaborate on the innovative and nationally-recognized community-based approaches to teaching and learning coming out of PACERS’ programs.

The daylong conference, sponsored by UA's Program for Rural Services and Research, will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Bryant Conference Center.

Sessions will focus on the Alabama Online High School, After School Alabama, PACERS Arts Project, PACERS Rural Entrepreneurial Initiative, PACERS Community Newspapers Project, PACERS Rural Science Initiative, and Community Development Credit Unions. In addition, a session on the No Child Left Behind legislation will be held, led by Craig Pouncey, member of the State Department of Education's NCLB Practitioners Committee.

One of the country's leading rural education organizations, PACERS is an association of small rural public schools representing communities located throughout the state of Alabama.

Schools in the PACERS Cooperative work together to develop and implement community-based programs that capitalize on the strengths of small schools and put to use the resources of rural communities. Their work includes the construction of living learning labs such as aquaculture units and greenhouses, the publication of school-based community newspapers, student operated entrepreneurial ventures, and production of community-based arts programs.

The conference will showcase models of curriculum planning, teaching, and school restructuring developed in PACERS schools, and which have received national attention.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Program for Rural Services and Research at The University of Alabama, the non-profit small schools support organization, ACCESS (Alabama Coalition of Citizens for Excellence in Small Schools), and the Appalachian Regional Commission.

For more information on the PACERS conference, including additional contact information, visit the web site http://www.pacers.org or call the UA Program for Rural Services and Research at 205/348-6432.