Make Rural Schools a Priority
Make Rural Schools a Priority

Author: Jeremy Ayers

Publisher:

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 9

ISBN-13:

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The public usually thinks of large urban schools when it considers reforms to the American education system. But rural students account for a large and growing segment of the school-age population, and their needs have too often been overlooked in school improvement efforts. Policymakers and the public must make rural education a priority if the nation as a whole is to make marked gains in student outcomes. Unfortunately, federal education efforts do not always consider the issues of rural students and schools in ways they could, despite their unique challenges. Congress has the opportunity to move forward on education reform by reauthorizing Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to ensure all children achieve their greatest potential. ESEA is the largest and most significant federal education law supporting public schools. The law, currently known as No Child Left Behind, was due to be reauthorized in 2007. Congress now has the opportunity to fix numerous flaws in NCLB and to ensure the needs of rural students and schools are met. Congress should keep the following considerations in mind so that federal education law better addresses the needs of rural students and schools: (1) Ensure rural schools and districts have fair chances to receive and compete for federal education funds; (2) Make school-based wraparound services available to rural students in recognition of the special circumstances and sometimes limited capacity of rural schools; (3) Ensure options are available to rural districts for the successful turnaround of low-performing schools; and (4) Enhance supports for building the teacher and principal workforce for rural schools. These points are by no means exhaustive. Others have done important work on how to improve rural education. This paper offers a few key considerations for how a new ESEA can improve the way federal programs and policies serve rural interests. (Contains 19 endnotes.).

Cultivating Rural Education
Cultivating Rural Education

Author: Caitlin Howley

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2021-03-01

Total Pages: 193

ISBN-13: 164802470X

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Rural life is more complex than it is perhaps credited. This edited volume explores several themes that highlight such complexities, particularly in terms of what they imply for rural teaching and learning. These themes include the geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic diversity within and across rural communities; the notion that rurality is not a deficit but rather a context; and the array of novel and interesting ways to build upon rural assets and overcome challenges so that rural students are not afforded fewer educational opportunities simply by virtue of their zip code. More practically, this book offers counsel for readers who may be interested in learning more about rural circumstances so that they can make informed and responsive decisions about policies and programs targeting rural students, educators, and schools. Praise for Cultivating Rural Education: "Making appropriate decisions about policy and practice in rural education settings demands an understanding of rural communities and the nuances of rural lifeways that are not standard fare in most decision-makers’ professional backgrounds and preparation. This book clearly and insightfully helps guide readers to those understandings, offering a valuable resource both for individuals with nonrural backgrounds (as a thorough introduction to the salient contexts of rural education) and for those with rural backgrounds (as a guide for framing/reframing and clarifying their existing understandings)." Jerry D. Johnson, Professor and Lydia E. Skeen, Endowed Chair in Education Kansas State University "Howley and Redding have co-edited a book that brings to life the complexity of rural people and places and helps readers understand what this complexity means for rural education. The range of voices and research in Cultivating Rural Education demonstrates how varied rural places are, how real the educational challenges rural schools and districts face are, and how much strength and ingenuity rural people bring to the table to address those challenges." Robert Mahaffey, Executive Director Rural School and Community Trust The book Cultivating Rural Education gives an actionable planning process to understand, define, and cultivate our rural schools and communities. The community and school are so closely tied together, it is time for our stakeholders and community members to highlight what is right and adjust the areas that need adjusting to help save and establish a true path(s) to sustainability for Rural America." Allen Pratt, Executive Director National Rural Education Association

The Condition of Education in Rural Schools
The Condition of Education in Rural Schools

Author: Joyce D. Stern

Publisher: Improvement of Practice

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13:

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This report focuses on the status of rural education and is intended to provide information to education researchers, policymakers at the federal and state levels, as well as others concerned about issues in rural education. Specifically, the goal is to increase federal policymakers' attention to rural education problems, promote improvements in rural schools, and stimulate further research on rural education. This report documents how rural conditions are sufficiently different from urban ones to warrant being examined independently, and it endorses the hypothesis that a single set of public policies may not adequately address educational issues in rural versus urban settings. National data, mainly from surveys by the National Center for Education Statistics, are synthesized covering the following topics: (1) economic and demographic context of rural education; (2) location and characteristics of rural schools and school districts; (3) relationship between the rural school and its community; (4) policies and programs benefiting rural education; (5) profiles of educators in rural schools; (6) effects of education reform in rural schools; (7) public school finance policies and practices affecting rural schools; (8) assessment of student performance in rural schools; (9) education and work experiences of rural youth; and (10) the future of rural education. The report contains numerous data tables and a section describing statistical data sources and methodology. (LP)

Making a Positive Impact in Rural Places
Making a Positive Impact in Rural Places

Author: R. Martin Reardon

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2018-03-01

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 164113223X

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Following on from the preceding volume in this series that focused on innovation and implementation in the context of school-university-community collaborations in rural places, this volume explores the positive impact of such collaborations in rural places, focusing specifically on the change agency of such collaborations. The relentless demand of urban places in general for the food and resources (e.g., mineral and energy resources) originating in rural places tends to overshadow the impact of the inevitable changes wrought by increasing efficiency in the supply chain. Youth brought-up in rural places tend to gravitate to urban places for higher education and employment, social interaction and cultural affordances, and only some of them return to enrich their places of origin. On one hand, the outcome of the arguable predominance of more populated areas in the national consciousness has been described as “urbanormativity”—a sense that what happens in urban areas is the norm. By implication, rural areas strive to approach the norm. On the other hand, a mythology of rural places as repositories of traditional values, while flattering, fails to take into account the inherent complexities of the rural context. The chapters in this volume are grouped into four parts—the first three of which explore, in turn, collaborations that target instructional leadership, increase opportunities for underserved people, and target wicked problems. The fourth part consists of four chapters that showcase international perspectives on school-university-community collaborations between countries (Australia and the United States), within China, within Africa, and within Australia. The overwhelming sense of the chapters in this volume is that the most compelling evidence of impact of school-university community collaborations in rural places emanates from collaborations brokered by schools-communities to which universities bring pertinent resources.

Rural Education Issues
Rural Education Issues

Author: Julia Williams

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 13

ISBN-13:

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The purpose of this study was to identify the issues that most affect Minnesota's rural public school administrators as they attempt to fulfill the mandates required from state legislation and communities. A second purpose was to identify exemplary practices valued by individual Minnesota rural schools and districts. Electronic surveys were sent to all of the superintendents, principals, and business managers in the 141 school districts that belong to the Minnesota Rural Education Association for a total of 465 surveys. These members were asked to provide demographic information, priorities, needs, best practices, and policy suggestions in order to establish lines of inquiry for further investigation. Researchers then conducted focus groups of school administrators in each of six regions of Minnesota following the results of the survey. Results identified three priority categories of concern, attainment of student performance and learning goals, fiscal management and curriculum and instruction, with ten related needs for assistance, in addition to policy and process changes identified to address those concerns. After analysis of this study's survey responses and focus group participation, the needs and priorities collected from leaders of rural school districts indicate opportunities to review and revise current funding policies, as well as considerations to modify or review procedures employed by state agencies, professional education organizations, colleges and universities. While it is true that additional financial resources would always be welcomed, participants in this study identified means by which rural education could be improved through revised allocation of resources. By systematically soliciting the insights of the individuals who can balance the requirements of the federal and state mandates with the realities of the communities they serve, may be able to strengthen the connections between rural schools, and those who make decisions. (Contains 1 table.).

Rural School Turnaround and Reform
Rural School Turnaround and Reform

Author: Coby V. Meyers

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2022-01-01

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 1648026753

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We have entitled the fourth book in the series Rural School Turnaround and Reform: It’s Hard Work! Overall, the body of scholarly work and research that examines school turnaround and reform in rural areas is slim; as such, this volume adds to the body of work and contributes to new knowledge in a much-needed area. In this volume, we present chapters that speak to the challenges, successes, and opportunities to improve low-performing rural schools. Chapters range from conceptual arguments to policy analyses or research findings, as well as some combination of these or other ways to consider rural school turnaround and reform.

Rural Turnaround Leadership Development
Rural Turnaround Leadership Development

Author: Ellen H. Reames

Publisher: IAP

Published: 2018-07-01

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1641132930

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Rural Turnaround Leadership Development: The Power of Partnerships focuses on a three- year rural turnaround leadership project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. The project was designed to foster the development of a cohort of aspiring school leaders in rural high poverty/low performing K-12 school districts. The Alabama Project was selected by the U.S. Department of Education, in part, because it was the only submission which emphasized partnership between higher education institutions, school districts and the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE). Facets of the book include a treatment of the structures and processes each university created to develop their unique program, the distinctive turnaround curriculum used at each university, the role of mentoring in developing aspiring rural school leaders and the internship experiences and practices which supported aspiring leader development. One of the most powerful changes witnessed during the project was the development of aspiring leaders by the major and ancillary partners. The cross-connections between K-12 districts, the ALSDE, and the three university educational leadership programs was a multifaceted and multi-layered collaborative approach. The partnerships not only strengthened within each master’s program, but across agencies as a result of this project. The book will describe the value of partnership and leadership development through the eyes of the major contributors. The contributors or authors of the book will include the Alabama State Department of Education, the three educational leadership higher education institutions i.e. Auburn University, University of Alabama and Samford University, partner school district representatives and graduates of the program.

Educating Multilingual Students in Rural Schools
Educating Multilingual Students in Rural Schools

Author:

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-03-06

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 900454660X

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Illuminating issues of diversity at the intersection of rural education and multilingual learners (ML) in the United States, this edited volume brings forth new research that captures the importance of place and rurality in the work of educators who serve multilingual learners and their families. The six chapters in this book demonstrate that education for teachers, leaders and staff, professional development programs, and government-funded projects aimed to improve rural education need to begin with three interrelated, multifaceted principles. The first principle is the need to center place and rurality as essential factors that affect education for all educators, students, and families who live, work, and attend schools in rural communities. Second, educators must humanize multilingual students, their families, and their cultures in ways that go beyond merely acknowledging their presence – they must deeply see and understand the lives and (hi)stories of the multilingual students and families that they serve in their rural schools. Finally, the third principle involves identifying multilingual resources for ML students and their families. Given the persistent inequities in access to resources and opportunities that rural ML students and families face, this last principle requires careful planning, networking, and advocating in ways that can truly effectuate change. Contributors are: Jioanna Carjuzaa, Maria R. Coady, Paula Golombek, Shuzhan Li, Kristin Kline Liu, Nidza V. Marichal, Charity Funfe Tatah Mentan, Kym O’Donnell, Stephanie Oudghiri, Darrell Peterson, Sonja Phillips, Jenelle Reeves and Yi-Chen Wu.

Rural Education
Rural Education

Author: Paul M. Nachtigal

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-06-26

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 1000310388

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The close-knit, personal nature of small rural communities results in school and community operating as a single integrated social structure. Useful rural school improvement strategies must, therefore, address needs that are recognized by both the local school and the community and must operate in a style congruent with the local setting. Although outside ideas and resources may contribute greatly to successful plans to improve rural schools, a high level of local involvement is essential in determining the specifics of those plans. This is clearly demonstrated by the thirteen case studies presented in this book, in which the strategies that have been effective over time in resolving rural school problems are distinguished by a high degree of local participation. The cases–chosen to provide good examples of particular strategies and also to represent the diversity that characterizes rural America–cover centrally designed, heavily funded programs as well as small-scale, locally initiated efforts in such areas as teacher training, the introduction of new curricula, and community participation in education decision making and political action. The final chapters analyze the case studies in practical terms and recommend policy and practice for future rural school improvement.

No Longer Forgotten
No Longer Forgotten

Author: Michael Q. McShane

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published: 2018-11-08

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 9781475846072

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This volume looks at both the macro-factors affecting rural schools as well as the specific steps rural schools have taken and can take to improve.