Rural-serving community colleges (RSCCs) play vital roles in their communities yet often struggle to facilitate student transfer to further education, especially in STEM fields. This mixed methods study explored how rural STEM educators leverage relationships to support transfer. Social network analysis of focus groups with 36 educators at five…

This chapter presents the results of a study focused on rural community college faculty experiences. Through their own stories, it becomes clear that rural faculty do not have a single role, but instead fulfill many roles that ensure the success of their students.

This mixed methods study examined students' perceptions of EcoJustice and Social Justice curriculum in an undergraduate children's literature course. Data included beginning-course and end-course Likert scale questions and open-ended responses, student reflective writings, and assignments. This study also examined survey responses from faculty…

Instructors at rural, two-year institutions have many insights that can inform biology instruction at other colleges to promote rural students' success in the sciences. We present four principles, derived from three case studies of experienced rural instructors, to consider when teaching rural students. These include connecting to students' lives,…

The emotional labor of organizing, leading, or participating in campus protests may affect Black students' involvement in social justice activism at rural, predominantly White, higher education institutions. In this study, we examined the experiences and reflections of three Black students who engaged in a Black Lives Matter-inspired protest at a…

Community college instructors are influential in the lives of rural students, and they have key insights on the education of those students. Studies are needed to identify ways to support these rural students, who represent an important source of political and socioeconomic diversity for their communities and when transferring to universities.…

Rural students are a unique population who tend to be overlooked on campuses, despite having hurdles to overcome that some argue are similar if not greater than their peers in urban areas. Rural students are more likely to graduate high school than urban and suburban students according to the NCES and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).…

This paper describes a three-campus collaborative, distributed learning program that delivers social work education to remote rural and desert communities in California via distance learning modalities. This "Pathway Program" provides accredited social work education for a career ladder beginning with advising and developing an academic…

This article describes a research group project that included students and faculty affiliated with Indiana University, along with secondary English teachers and administrators at several high schools in Southeast Indiana, as they developed and refined an approach to literacy instruction that embraces an expanded notion of literacy and supports…

This study will be presented to university education programs, Professional Development Schools, cooperating teachers, preservice teachers, and administrators who are part of the practicum experience. This study concentrated on looking at the perceptions of cooperating teachers about the practicum in preparing preservice teachers to meet the needs…

This case study of faculty culture focused on the dynamics of a small, rural, two-year branch campus of a large state university. It reports descriptive themes concerning the isolation and rural location of the campus, its diminutive size, faculty role perspectives, and factors related to faculty role implementation. It provides a portrait of this…

Based on research studies of effective staff development and rural education, the Inservice Leadership Team (ILT) was designed to identify key teachers in school buildings, team them with principals and central office staff, and train the team to design, deliver, and evaluate staff development at the school level. Rural Pennsylvania school staff,…

Following the setbacks of wartime, teaching is once more on the march toward a professional status that is in keeping with its great importance to the Nation and to the world. Numerous agencies have expressed the need for an authoritative statement setting forth the facts on which a young person might base a decision to enter upon teaching as a…