Abstract

Hollowing out the Middle represents what should be a critically influential study for guiding education reform in rural America. Using survey data from 275 former high school students, in-depth interviews with more than 100 young adults across the nation who attended the high school in the late 1980s and early 1990s, coupled with intensive community-level fieldwork, the husband-wife team of sociology professors, Patrick Carr and Maria Kefalas chronicle the "coming-of-age" experiences of youth who formerly attended high school in "Ellis," Iowa. In the process they uncover how a high school and its community inadvertently contribute to the brain drain and "hollowing out" of a small town in America's heartland.

How to Cite:

Harmon, H. L., (2010) “Book Review: Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What It Means for America”, Journal of Research in Rural Education 25(3), 1–3.

Rights: Copyright