The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how rural K-12 leaders in Utah describe their leadership practices. The theoretical framework was based on Robert Greenleaf's Servant Leadership Theory. This study explored three research questions pertaining to: How Rural K-12 leadership practices were described, challenges that…

The U.S. Department of Education made recent technical changes reducing eligibility for the Rural and Low-Income School Program. Given smaller budgets and lower economies of scale, rural districts may be less able to absorb short-term funding cuts and experience stronger negative achievement effects. Kansas implemented a state-level finance change…

The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) has been studying the four-day school week since 2015. Since then, the phenomenon of the four-day school week has spread into non-rural areas and interest appears to be growing. Given these apparent changes, the author wanted to know more about recent trends in the initiative. As districts continue…

The departure of an effective school leader can influence staff turnover and student achievement for several years. With school systems facing an unprecedented public health crisis due to COVID-19, principal retention is a key area of concern for many local and state education agencies. The Regional Educational Laboratory West undertook this study…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a study of principal retention rates to help leaders in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah better understand principal retention patterns in their state, so that their new statewide leadership support initiatives could identify areas where support could be most effective. With school systems facing an…

The "Principal Retention Patterns in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah" study examined principal retention rates in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. The study sought to understand principal retention patterns in these states, so that their new statewide leadership support initiatives could identify areas where support could be most effective.…

Many reports on rural education give little attention to digital learning. At most, they tend to note either infrastructure needs or the potential of remote course access, with little focus on instruction, outcomes, or exemplars. This report intends to begin correcting that imbalance by connecting the dots between rural regions, rural education,…

In New Mexico, 18 out of 89 school districts are on the four-day school week. So are many rural Colorado, Oregon, and Colorado schools. Implemented as a fiscal last resort, this schedule has had unexpected educational benefits for districts. Attendance has improved and student achievement on standardized tests remains stable. (MLH)

Investigates information about teachers leaving 30 rural school districts in Utah during the 1980 school year and following the 1981 school year. Notes differences in sex, teaching assignment, grade level, teaching experience, and reasons for leaving (especially salary levels) among the 233 participating teachers. (SB)

Small, sometimes multi-cultural, rural schools need specialized preservice teacher education programs to prepare teachers. After outlining the classroom, school, and sociocultural characteristics affecting a teacher's success and survival in a rural community, this paper discusses the apparent lack of rural content in teacher preparation programs…

Study objectives were to: (1) generate comparative attitudinal profiles of rural administrators (n=32), teachers (n=77), students (n=290), and parents (n=121) from Northeastern Utah school districts (10 elementary and/or secondary schools); (2) isolate attitudes/factors contributing to turnover and other rural education problems; (3) establish a…

Analysis of minutes of board of education meetings in all 31 rural Utah school districts found that rural boards tended to micromanage their districts, generally ignoring the larger leadership function of building consensus and fostering a sense of community. Discussions of educational reform movements and unstructured discussion with patrons…

This article provides resources for school-community collaboration to support at-risk students and their families in rural settings. Rural schools and their communities must work together efficiently and economically to counteract problems such as geographic isolation, shortage of resources, economic decline, lack of political power and…

Although shortages of certified special education teachers occur in both rural and urban areas, they are more critical in rural districts, where recruitment can be problematic and there are few special educators on staff. In response to chronic shortages in the state, the Utah State Office of Education created a critical personnel shortages…

Profiles of teachers from 30 rural and 10 urban Utah school districts who left the teaching profession were gathered via school district superintendents who were asked to identify teachers who left the profession during the school year and those who left the profession following the close of school. For those who left during the school year, data…