Teacher leadership remains at the forefront of conversations in teacher education, with discussions on recruitment, retention, and effectiveness. Teachers are at the core of schooling, and the roles they assume and types of leadership they engage in are multi-dimensional. Teacher leadership comes in many shapes and definitions. In this sense, both…

School communities in both urban and rural settings need trauma-informed (TI) supports; however, the adversities experienced and access to student supports may be unique to rural school communities. In addition, the contextual challenges experienced by rural schools and communities, as well as the strengths that can be drawn from them, will…

As school districts face declining enrollment and stable or reduced funding they look for ways to contain costs and continue to provide a quality educational experience. In many states "a new wave of consolidation...may be at hand" (Kysilko, 2003). The research cites advantage for both consolidation and for maintaining small schools. The…

This case was developed to use in leadership courses with specific implications for school law and supervision of instruction. Varied data are presented about the school and district for students to analyze. School instructional policies of inclusion of special needs students and supervision of teachers play a role in the course of events at…

School district size is important to policymakers and educators who need to determine the most effective way to structure school organization. For more than 40 years, a growing body of research has focused on the relationship between school size and school effectiveness (Monk & Plecki, 1999). Early studies did not address the effect of school…

This publication offers a sampling of strategies, resources, and tips for educators and policymakers engaged in the recruitment of mathematics, science, and special education teachers--specific to urban and rural schools and districts. These strategies and resources, when implemented effectively, can have a positive and lasting impact on the…

A group of rural districts benefited when various agencies that were offering professional learning experiences combined their efforts into one, more comprehensive program. Now teachers can earn graduate credits, renew their licenses, or renew their energies, through one center.

Career ladders have been proposed as one way to address problems rural and small schools have in recruiting academically able and talented teachers, recognizing them once they start teaching, and retaining them in the teaching role. While there are differences in career ladder plans, there are also some common features, e.g., predetermined…

Questionnaires were mailed to 80 administrative units in the western United States, of which 85% responded, to examine administrative arrangements for administering special education programs in rural areas and to determine whether a relationship existed between administrative arrangement, cooperative size, and compliance with the mandates of P.L.…

Using personnel files provided by New York's state education department, this study examines and compares teacher retention rates in relation to region and gender from 1974 through 1984 in school districts using alternative practices of internal salary distribution. A total of 57 school districts from 2 regions of the state were included in the…

This handbook gives the historical background of a 2-year project conducted in a rural Wisconsin school district, outlining the planning and actual construction of a high school satellite receiving station. It is written to aid rural school districts in purchasing, installing, and using a satellite receiving station to improve the quality of…

A paper on the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (P.L. 94-142) provides information to state legislators on requirements and application procedures and speculates on significance of compliance for rural New Mexico school districts (New Mexico has never implemented P.L. 94-142). The five purposes of the paper are to describe major…