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Principals’ Sense Of Efficacy And Cultural Factors In Rural West Virginia Schools, Louis Watts, Cynthia Kolsun, Vicky Cline, Leatha Williams

Louis K Watts

Some studies of rural education in the United States suggest there are unique features of rural communities that affect schooling and student outcomes. Appalachia has been a special interest of many studies. Chenoweth and Galliher (2004) measured the influence of three cultural factors associated with Appalachia on the college aspirations of rural West Virginia high school students: (1) localism, a sense of connection to the land, (2) historicism, the sense of understanding one’s place in the family and region where born, and (3) familism, the tendency to maintain close family ties geographically and interpersonally. A key influence in creating effective …