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- Aboriginal; youth; leadership; transformative; success (1)
- Alternate route; principals' beliefs; rural; middle school (1)
- Boomtown schools; teachers; rural policies (1)
- Charter schools; cyber charter schools; rural education; student mobility (1)
- Co-teaching; student teaching; teacher preparation; rural education; clinical field experience (1)
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- Cyber schooling; rural schooling; parental choice; parent satisfaction; student satisfaction; rural charter schooling; rural education markets; rural cyber schooling (1)
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- Leadership; rural; mentoring and induction; professional learning (1)
- Literacy; teacher literacy practices; literacy contexts; rural literacy; out-of-school literacy (1)
- Math education; rural education; technician occupations; workforce development (1)
- Place-based; rural; writing; language (1)
- Recruitment; retention; teacher satisfaction; smallest rural school districts (1)
- Rural education; ESL instruction; educator self-assessment; professional development (1)
- Rural; small school; principal evaluation; principal professional development (1)
- Rural; supervision; school counselors; roles and responsibilities (1)
- School improvement grants; school turnaround; Native American education; rural reform efforts; one-to-one initiatives (1)
- Secondary principals; women principals; school leadership; gender and leadership (1)
- Teacher education; rural; law (1)
- Teacher shortage; teacher pay; out-migration; rural education; brain drain (1)
- Transition services; rural education; special education; educational administrators (1)
Articles 1 - 26 of 26
Full-Text Articles in Education
A Brief Summary Of Teacher Recruitment And Retention In The Smallest Illinois Rural Schools, John David Ulferts
A Brief Summary Of Teacher Recruitment And Retention In The Smallest Illinois Rural Schools, John David Ulferts
The Rural Educator
Teacher recruitment and retention factors were identified in the smallest public school districts in Illinois. Findings were compared to a previous study of Montana rural teacher recruitment and retention conducted by Davis (2002). A quantitative survey instrument was administered to teachers employed in the 24 smallest Illinois school districts. The survey consisted of Likert-type items measuring recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction factors and was based on the Boylan (1993) four spheres of influence for teacher recruitment and retention: 1) within classroom activities, 2) whole school level activities, 3) community level activities, and 4) family/personal factors. Results were similar to the …
The Math Learning Gap: Preparing Stem Technicians For The New Rural Economy, Hobart L. Harmon, Sandy C. Wilborn
The Math Learning Gap: Preparing Stem Technicians For The New Rural Economy, Hobart L. Harmon, Sandy C. Wilborn
The Rural Educator
The Rural Math Excel Partnership (RMEP) identified math competencies used by technicians in the workplace compared to standards of learning required in the public school curriculum. A modified DACUM process revealed 39 math competencies used by technicians in STEM-related occupations of the rural region. Group interviews with faculty in three community colleges helped substantiate math gaps. A project math specialist and team of teachers identified four types of learning gaps: (1) math competencies not included in state standards; (2) math competencies included in state standards taught prior to Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, and Algebra Functions and Data Analysis (AFDA) …
Research On Teacher Evaluation: A Review Of Statute, Regulation And Litigation In The Region, Helen M. Hazi
Research On Teacher Evaluation: A Review Of Statute, Regulation And Litigation In The Region, Helen M. Hazi
The Rural Educator
Limited research has been done to examine teacher evaluation in rural schools. This article presents an analysis of legislation and regulation of teacher evaluation in selected rural states, highlights their commonalities and differences, reports their litigation, and speculates on potential problems that can result in rural schools. It ends with recommendations for states to consider now that the Every Student Succeeds Act (formerly No Child Left Behind) has passed, and states have the option to reconsider their teacher evaluation plans.
Does Rural Differ? Comparing Parent And Student Reasons For Choosing Cyber Schooling, Dennis Beck, Robert Maranto, M. Danish Shakeel
Does Rural Differ? Comparing Parent And Student Reasons For Choosing Cyber Schooling, Dennis Beck, Robert Maranto, M. Danish Shakeel
The Rural Educator
Cyber-schooling offers potentially greater benefits for rural than urban students, by providing a broader range of courses, ending long commutes, and offering more developed special education services than typically found in rural public schools. We survey students (n=269, 53.7% response rate) and parents (232, 48.7%) at a cyber-charter school dubbed SunTech, to test whether rural subjects choose cyber schooling for distinct reasons. Factor analyses and OLS regressions indicate that rural parents are more apt to choose SunTech for structural reasons such as its broader range of classes and to avoid long commutes to school. In contrast, students were more likely …
Developing Leadership Capacity In New Rural School District Leaders: The Kansas Educational Leadership Institute, Donna Augustine-Shaw
Developing Leadership Capacity In New Rural School District Leaders: The Kansas Educational Leadership Institute, Donna Augustine-Shaw
The Rural Educator
Understanding the context of rural school settings is critical to beginning school district leaders. Rural communities present multifaceted challenges that leaders must embrace as diverse community expectations unfold. The majority of Kansas school districts are in rural settings. Mentoring and induction shapes the experiences encountered during the first year of practice. The Kansas Educational Leadership Institute provides high quality mentoring and induction for new superintendents and principals in Kansas. Mentoring and induction provided by veteran superintendents familiar with leadership complexities in rural communities is offered through on-site visits. In addition, new superintendents participate in activities focused on building capacity through …
Examining The Teacher Pipeline: Will They Stay Or Will They Go?, Mary R. Moeller, Lonell L. Moeller, Dan Schmidt
Examining The Teacher Pipeline: Will They Stay Or Will They Go?, Mary R. Moeller, Lonell L. Moeller, Dan Schmidt
The Rural Educator
This study examines survey data from teacher education students in their final two years of preparation at a Midwestern university. We asked students to explain if they intend to stay in our state or move to other states to pursue teaching careers after graduation. We compiled all 137 responses using descriptive statistics and found that 59% of respondents intend to leave our state after graduating. Of the remaining respondents, 21% intend to stay in our state and 20% are unsure of their plans. We used qualitative methods to code students’ responses, giving reasons for their intentions. While students mentioned financial …
Front Matter, Dana Pomykal Franz
Front Matter, Dana Pomykal Franz
The Rural Educator
Includes cover page, table of content, and letter from the editor.
Choice, Cyber Charter Schools, And The Educational Marketplace For Rural School Districts, Bryan Mann, Stephen Kotok, Erica Frankenberg, Ed Fuller, Kai Schafft
Choice, Cyber Charter Schools, And The Educational Marketplace For Rural School Districts, Bryan Mann, Stephen Kotok, Erica Frankenberg, Ed Fuller, Kai Schafft
The Rural Educator
Pennsylvania is a state with significant proportions of students who attend rural schools, as well as students who attend charter schools. This study examines enrollment patterns of students in brick and mortar and cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania and how these enrollment patterns differ across geographic locale. We analyze student-level enrollment data, controlling for demographic characteristics, and find that, in contrast to brick and mortar schools, cyber charter schools attract students from a variety of locales across the urban-rural continuum. However, rural students exhibit the greatest likelihood of attending cyber charter schools. We discuss the implications of these findings in …
Transition Services In Eight Rural Counties Of Western New York: Views Of Directors Of Special Education, Bruce A. Shields, Mindy S. Scirri, Michael R. Berta, Kara M. Klump
Transition Services In Eight Rural Counties Of Western New York: Views Of Directors Of Special Education, Bruce A. Shields, Mindy S. Scirri, Michael R. Berta, Kara M. Klump
The Rural Educator
Rural school districts face different challenges than urban and suburban districts. In fact, several Rural Systemic Initiatives (RSIs) have been established around the country to isolate and address rural school district issues (Harmon & Smith, 2012). In order to improve the effectiveness of transition services in rural schools, feedback from stakeholders in the process is vital. Directors of special education, specifically, must work to facilitate a quality and seamless process for transition despite challenges, and those working in rural settings may face additional obstacles. This study examines the perspectives of these front-line providers in order to begin to understand the …
Front Matter, Dana Pomykal Franz
Front Matter, Dana Pomykal Franz
The Rural Educator
Includes cover page, table of content, and letter from the editor, plus a call to action and rural education research agenda from the NREA.
Becoming A Principal: Access Factors For Females, Rae Ann Kruse, Bernita L. Krumm
Becoming A Principal: Access Factors For Females, Rae Ann Kruse, Bernita L. Krumm
The Rural Educator
Guided by Standpoint Theory, researchers conducted this case study to identify factors influencing access to Oklahoma’s secondary school principalship for four female first-time principals. Regardless of equity legislation and increasing numbers of females with advanced degrees, the numbers of men and women who hold secondary school administration positions continue to be disproportionate to their numbers in the teaching profession. Three standpoints emerged: In the transition from teacher to administrator, each participant was nurtured by another individual; male sponsors were their primary encouragers; and participants had strong emotional investments in the schools and communities of their employment. Aspiring female principals should …
Policies And Professional Development: An Oil Boom’S Effect On Rural Schools And Teachers, Vincent Genareo
Policies And Professional Development: An Oil Boom’S Effect On Rural Schools And Teachers, Vincent Genareo
The Rural Educator
In 2008, Western North Dakota experienced an extraordinary energy boom, creating waves of new residents seeking employment in the lucrative oil fields. Resultantly, many communities in the area, which were almost exclusively isolated and rural, dramatically changed. The purpose of this qualitative single-case study was to investigate the experiences of school staff in two rural schools within the North Dakota oil boom region. Data were teacher and administrator interviews with 15 participants and classroom observations. The findings indicated that teachers faced three key challenges in their classrooms as a result of the population influx, including: changing educational space, student academic …
Learning The Language Of Home: Using Place-Based Writing Practice To Help Rural Students Connect To Their Communities, Erin Donovan
Learning The Language Of Home: Using Place-Based Writing Practice To Help Rural Students Connect To Their Communities, Erin Donovan
The Rural Educator
The idea of "place" extends beyond the locations where people live. Place is a narrative which shapes identity and culture and provides an understanding of experience. By exploring place and the connections which evolve from place, an intriguing context begins to take a shape that inspires transformational ideas and actions. This article investigates how place-based writing practices affect rural middle school students’ connections with their home community as evidenced through their writing. This study follows the critical pedagogy of place theoretical framework and works to support best practices in rural education research. A qualitative case study design was used to …
School Turnaround: A Rural Reflection Of Reform On The Reservation And Lessons For Implementation, Ian M. Mette, Jason Stanoch
School Turnaround: A Rural Reflection Of Reform On The Reservation And Lessons For Implementation, Ian M. Mette, Jason Stanoch
The Rural Educator
Rural communities traditionally enjoy an intimate relationship between stakeholders and the local school system. While preliminary research exists to suggest rural school turnaround might be more likely to occur when a strong communal connection exists (Mette, 2014), little is known about rural school turnaround efforts serving predominantly Native American students. This article reports findings of a School Improvement Grants (SIG) funded effort to digitize curriculum and deliver instruction through the use of tablets in Yellow Pine, a school district on a Native American reservation in a rural, Upper Midwestern state. Data were collected through interviews with school and district leaders, …
Rural Education And The Every Student Succeeds Act, Devon Brenner
Rural Education And The Every Student Succeeds Act, Devon Brenner
The Rural Educator
Rural education is becoming an increasing focus of federal education legislation. The Every Student Succeeds Act explicitly addresses rural education through the REAP program, by taking steps to ensure geographic distribution in competitive grants, by requiring states to consider rural LEAs in the development of state plans, and in many other ways. The mandated report on rural education is intended to provide data about whether these provisions are sufficient for ensuring that federal policy and funding address the needs of rural schools and students and its impact remains to be seen.
Front Matter, Dana Pomykal Franz
Front Matter, Dana Pomykal Franz
The Rural Educator
Includes cover page, table of content, and letter from the editor.
The Lone Ranger In Rural Education: The Small Rural School Principal And Professional Development, Courtney Stewart, Joseph Matthews
The Lone Ranger In Rural Education: The Small Rural School Principal And Professional Development, Courtney Stewart, Joseph Matthews
The Rural Educator
A pressing need on principals and their demands for personal professional development is improving their performance based on evaluation policy standards. State policy standards dictate how principals evaluate teachers and how they are evaluated. Surveying rural principals we investigated the current understanding of state standards and needs for professional development. Rural districts in Utah are remote and isolated. This research highlighted that within Utah rural schools, small school principals have different needs and practices when compared to medium sized rural school principals. Small school principals reported having spent two hours less in collaborating with and mentoring their teachers than did …
Increasing Usage Of Esl Instructional Practices In A Rural County Elementary School, John J. Hoover, Julia S. Sarris, Raymond Hill
Increasing Usage Of Esl Instructional Practices In A Rural County Elementary School, John J. Hoover, Julia S. Sarris, Raymond Hill
The Rural Educator
The study setting is one elementary school located in a remote rural county school district in a mountain western state. Implementing a specific set of procedures, ESL Instructional Improvement Process, educators examined and increased use of research-based ESL instructional practices in the education of English learners (ELs). A key feature of the piloted process is educator self-assessment of instructional practices, resulting in the development of workshop sessions and action items, and completion of classroom observations. Researchers found that the process proved effective in increasing rural educators’ knowledge and application of ESL best practices. Self-assessment was highly effective in helping educators …
The Coalition Of Essential Schools And Rural Educational Reform, Jim La Prad
The Coalition Of Essential Schools And Rural Educational Reform, Jim La Prad
The Rural Educator
The Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) has existed for thirty years and includes hundreds of public schools that are diverse in size, population, and programmatic emphasis. A qualitative grounded theory approach is utilized to describe how three rural (non-urban/suburban) high schools operationalize CES Common Principles. This research documents that the CES reform network may be both a viable and underutilized reform model for rural school districts to assist them in achieving educational excellence. Empirical data came from school site visits, interviews and school documents. Grounded theory identifies four working hypothesis that explain how these schools, as CES members, aim to …
Rural Teachers’ Literacy Practices In And Out Of The Classroom: Exploring Teacher Characteristics And Literacy Tools, Kara L. Lycke, Ellis Hurd, Terry Husband
Rural Teachers’ Literacy Practices In And Out Of The Classroom: Exploring Teacher Characteristics And Literacy Tools, Kara L. Lycke, Ellis Hurd, Terry Husband
The Rural Educator
Scholars who recognize the socially constructed nature of literacy acknowledge that important literacy processes take place across settings both in and out of school. Most of what is known about these trans-literacy practices relates to students, but little is known about the literacy practices of teachers in and outside of school. This study examines through survey research the in- and out-of-school literacy practices of teachers in a rural K-12 school district. The findings of the study suggest that for early career teachers, their out-of-school literacy practices are more deliberately connected to their literacy practices in school than for mid- and …
From The Editors, Anastasia D. Elder, Dana Pomykal Franz
From The Editors, Anastasia D. Elder, Dana Pomykal Franz
The Rural Educator
No abstract provided.
Guidelines On Submitting Manuscripts, Editorial Staff
Guidelines On Submitting Manuscripts, Editorial Staff
The Rural Educator
No abstract provided.
Principals' Perceptions About Alternate Route Programs In Rural Areas, Devon Brenner, Anastasia Elder, Sarah Wimbish, Sara Walker
Principals' Perceptions About Alternate Route Programs In Rural Areas, Devon Brenner, Anastasia Elder, Sarah Wimbish, Sara Walker
The Rural Educator
Alternate route programs are increasingly serving schools in rural areas that may struggle to recruit new teachers. In this study, ten principals of middle schools from rural areas of Mississippi were interviewed regarding their perceptions of alternate route programs’ recruitment, selection, preparation, mentorship, support, and retention practices. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews suggests that principals of rural schools had limited experience with alternatively certified teachers and, overall, their views were generally positive. They believed that these programs would help meet the high need for teachers in the state, and alternate route candidates may provide benefits to middle school students due …
Supervision Experiences Of Rural School Counselors, Tara A. Wilson, Susan Schaeffer, Mary Alice Bruce
Supervision Experiences Of Rural School Counselors, Tara A. Wilson, Susan Schaeffer, Mary Alice Bruce
The Rural Educator
This qualitative study explored the needs of professional school counselors and school counselor interns located in rural areas with regard to clinical supervision, consultation, and professional growth. Four separate focus groups (n=21) were conducted. To allow for consistency across focus groups, a series of six structured interview questions were used. Results of the data analysis revealed six themes which included unique issues of rural school counselors, dynamics of rural living, supervision from school administrators, supporting development through technology, desire for increased connection through supervision, and the identification of roles and responsibilities. Implications of this study indicate a crucial need to …
Youth Development Program In Northern Manitoba, Christopher D. Brown, Brandee Albert
Youth Development Program In Northern Manitoba, Christopher D. Brown, Brandee Albert
The Rural Educator
This article describes a study of the Cultural, Economic, Political, and Social Youth Leadership Development Program (CEPS), an identity-building program for disengaged youth, conducted by a community-university alliance in northern Manitoba, Canada. The study was conducted through the lens of transformative learning theory. Findings indicate participation in CEPS strengthened the physical, spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being of the quality of their lives, and provided knowledge and leadership skill development. The CEPS program also developed the participants' agency to make a difference in their lives, their families, and their communities.
“It Just Works Better”: Introducing The 2:1 Model Of Co-Teaching In Teacher Preparation, Christina M. Tschida, Judith J. Smith, Elizabeth A. Fogarty
“It Just Works Better”: Introducing The 2:1 Model Of Co-Teaching In Teacher Preparation, Christina M. Tschida, Judith J. Smith, Elizabeth A. Fogarty
The Rural Educator
Many issues influence reform in teacher preparation including national accountability efforts, professional teaching standards, and local or regional factors. This study examines a rurally-located teacher education program’s efforts to reform clinical preparation through co-teaching. Researchers argue that their adaption of the typical one-to-one (1:1) model of co-teaching to a two-to-one (2:1) model, where two teacher candidates work collaboratively with one cooperating teacher, greatly enhances the student teaching experience. This phenomenological research describes the first year of implementation. Despite cooperating teacher concerns about teacher candidates being prepared for their own classrooms, student teachers learned valuable lessons in collaboration and co-planning, built …