Thirty percent of US teachers work in rural schools where geographic isolation and lack of peers can make it difficult for them to engage in collaborative professional relationships with colleagues. Facilitated professional development can be used as a way to build these networks. Using a situative perspective in which teachers are viewed as…

Many rural communities have seen population shifts with burgeoning communities of linguistic, racial, and economic diversity expanding into traditionally homogenous rural communities (e.g. Brenner, 2016; Sharp & Lee, 2017). These shifts can occur rapidly, as a result of regional economic, social, or political forces and are particularly…

Rural schools and communities across the United States are increasingly diverse--linguistically, racially, and culturally. As rural schools experience this diversity, the need for well-prepared educators (teachers, leaders, counselors, and coaches) has continued to grow. This three-year study consisted of a place-conscious educator professional…

The Green River Regional Educational Cooperative (GRREC) and its partners administered the STEM-CS intervention to support the professional learning of middle and high school STEM teachers in rural southcentral Kentucky counties. The goals of the STEM-CS intervention were to improve teacher STEM-CS knowledge, practice, implementation, and…

The purpose of this study is to reveal the reasons for a classroom teacher (not) to choose the profession and her views on organizational loneliness and commitment related to the profession. A viewpoint, a case study and profession-related views were presented to teachers who would begin their duty or especially those who would work as the only…

School change efforts often rely on formal organizational structures to support educator knowledge of new instructional practices. Rural districts face challenges accessing the resources necessary for robust structures, but informal relationships among educators are often strong. Using structuration theory as a lens, this paper examines the…

In this paper, an application of open-ended textual feedback is presented as a tool to evaluate the perceptions and needs of teachers tasked with implementing computational thinking in the K-12 curriculum. Semantic analysis tools, including sentiment analysis and thematic analysis, facilitated the identification of common themes in openended…

Rapid urbanization in China has worsened the educational disparity between rural and urban regions, which can lead to increased social stratification and injustice. Information and communications technologies (ICTs), with their potential to enable universal access and pedagogical reform, are considered a promising solution to bridge such…

The North Dakota Teacher Support System (NDTSS) mentoring program is available to 1st-year teachers employed in the state public schools. Because there has been limited research on the topic, the purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of how participation in the mentoring program affects the experiences and developing…

Over the last decade, museums have reevaluated the ways in which they serve the public, particularly K-12 audiences. As funding concerns, travel distance, and school requirements prevent many students from visiting museums in person, America's 8.9 million rural students are disproportionately impacted, and educators are left to fill the gap with…

The Essential Three (e3) is a professional learning series that focuses on supporting rural school districts and school leaders as they engage in the important work of prioritizing and determining areas of instructional focus. As educators transition to new rigorous state and national standards and face the challenges of learning newly adopted…

The experiences of regional and rural teachers supporting students on the autism spectrum in their classrooms often differ from those of their metropolitan counterparts. Interventions designed for metropolitan settings may not work the same way in regional and rural classrooms, and teachers outside major centres may encounter challenges in…

The first year of teaching is the most formative period in a teacher's career. Support is therefore crucial if they are to develop the competencies, confidence and attitudes that will help keep them contented and effective in the classroom. One way of enhancing these aspects is through induction and mentoring. This will help ensure a firm…

American discourse is often accused of neglecting the interests and values of rural citizens, and this is particularly true when it comes to education. Rural students and the schools they attend receive little attention in either policy or academia. This report attempts to shed badly needed light on the challenges, and point to policies and…

Nationally, 28 percent of all public elementary and secondary schools were in rural locations in 2013-14, serving 18 percent of all K-12 students (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics 2015). Rural schools serve students in sparsely populated areas and have smaller overall populations than schools in other…