For this comprehensive literature review, we begin by framing our study with a scholarship review of the theorizing of place-based leadership and rural administrators. We then synthesize research on the practice and experiences of district administrators, including superintendents, school boards, and other ancillary leaders. We identify multiple…

This article presents the National Rural Education Association's Rural Research Agenda 2022-2027. In order to determine rural stakeholders' perspectives of research priorities, data collection included 328 surveys, six focus groups with 43 participants, and nine interviews with rural education practitioners, leaders, and policymakers. From a…

This piece responds to the content of each of the articles in this issue and raises questions in response to some explicit and implicit themes including particularly the way that differently positioned rural youth are "oriented" in the course of their educational experience. These articles are read as accounts of people in place that…

The purpose of this article is to help education practitioners and researchers understand that research about rural education is complicated not only by issues of defining "rural," but also by the often dramatic ways that rural schools differ from each other. We briefly address issues in defining rural and describe rural classification…

The concept of community has been central to the discourse of rural education for generations. At the same time, community has been and continues to be a deeply problematic concept. I begin this analysis with Raymond Williams's characterization of the idea of community as a uniquely positive concept, arguing that this framing is, as Williams…

Despite the significant proportions of rural Americans, schools, and public school students situated in the geographic peripheries of an increasingly urbanizing country, rural education in the United States has consistently occupied both scholarly and policy peripheries. This is to the detriment of rural America, especially to the extent that…

The college-going rates of rural students lag behind those of more urban students, a gap likely due, in part, to rural students' lower educational aspirations. These lower aspirations appear to be tied to the dilemma that higher education presents for many rural students: whether to remain in their rural home, working in traditional trades and…

This article investigates several authors' philosophical accounts of farming, ranching, and rural U.S. life, examining varieties of agrarianism and reviewing topics in agricultural ethics that might be an appropriate focus for rural educators. It suggests discussion of controversial issues and emphasizes the importance of teaching the ironies of…

Suggests that the critical tradition in current pedagogical and curricular thought may be particularly well suited for rural schools. An interview with a leading authority on rural education in Poland examines the results of centralized technological and industrialized planning on rural Polish communities and schools. (SM)

Describes the economic, demographic, social, and emotional status of rural Americans at the end of the twentieth century, noting accelerating forces that are changing the nature of that sector. The article looks at what the future holds for the 6.6 million students who attend rural schools. (SM)

Explores Wendell Berry's social philosophy in the context of the larger framework of liberalism and democratic theory, addressing implications for reconceptualizing rural schooling. The article exposes the benefits rural schools could tap by fostering a critical literacy based on local knowledge. (SM)

Examines rural African Americans' struggle for education during Booker T. Washington's time, documenting the irony in the fact that, although the age of Washington has come to symbolize dramatic educational gains for African Americans because of his advocacy, Southern rural African-American education during his career actually deteriorated…

This article defines historical and contemporary rural schools, outlines three sociological and political economy perspectives essential for understanding why school consolidation and rural school reform are abiding themes in rural America, and examines the political and economic context of a vigorous new school consolidation program in West…

Chronicles experiences of depression era "Okies," juxtaposes them against experiences of Mexican Americans, and illuminates the diminution of agricultural labor in an industrializing society. Schooling for those groups was legitimized by their low occupational status. When economic circumstances improved, whites escaped from migrant…

Reports on a case study of a rural school district in the U.S. northwest that coped with declining school population and loss of revenues because of closure of mining operations during the 1980s. The report analyzes the problem-solving and decision-making activities which encouraged grass-roots leadership and community cooperation. (SM)