Finding and retaining qualified teachers has been challenge for public schools in the United State over the past few decades. Teacher retention is one of the major factors impacting the number of qualified teachers available to our school system. This qualitative study was to help provide a better understanding of the teachers and administrators'…

The purpose of this study was to understand the deciding factors of teachers who have accepted a teaching position, or continue to remain in a teaching position, in rural K-12 public schools in central Illinois. Staffing a school of fully qualified teachers remains one of the most important and difficult challenges to school districts throughout…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the stories shared by interventionists which focused on the work they do to create student connectedness in rural middle schools. Illinois schools are designated by performance indicators, where successful schools are rated "Exemplary" or "Commendable" based primarily on…

Colleges implement success courses to improve student outcomes. Since expanding its curriculum to include nine success courses, Illinois Eastern Community Colleges (IECC)--a multi-college community college district in rural, southeastern Illinois--has not determined the efficacy of these courses on student success. The purpose of this study was to…

Centered on reconceptualizations of "rural" and "rurality" that reimagine and transcend the "traditional imaginaries" of rural educational settings as places of disadvantage and isolation, this article presents the partial results of a mixed methods study funded by the Spencer Foundation about expanded and pivotal…