Aligning with the NREA's "college and career readiness" research priority, this article presents a systematic literature review of 134 publications regarding the state of rural college access and choice research between the years 2000 and 2020. We use Perna's (2006) college choice model to guide our comprehensive summary of current…

Too often research studies on Black boys emanate from deficit orientations and take a problem-centered approach that overemphasizes stereotypes or pathologizes Black male students, overlooking their aspirations and successes. Utilizing the High School Longitudinal Survey of 2009 (HSLS: 09), we examined the postsecondary goals of rural Black male…

The purpose of this article is to highlight a critical approach for practice, youth participatory action research, that can be used to invite rural youth to collaborate with school administrators, educators, and community leaders to identify and examine challenges, while building upon the strengths of a school and community to address challenges.…

The purpose of this case study was to explore how rural high school teachers and students, grades 9-12 use iPads in class, the obstacles and barriers to teacher and student iPad use, and the relationship between types and frequency of use, in one high school in Southern Oregon. The study consisted of classroom observations and follow-up interviews…

Rural areas in many parts of the U.S. experience population decline from outmigration. Geographic mobility has long been a contributing factor to the social and economic instability of rural communities; high-achieving and ambitious youth are inclined to leave rural areas to take advantage of the expansive economic opportunities and cultural and…

The purpose of this study was to explore the postsecondary educational and occupational expectations of work-bound rural youth. Three groups of work-bound youth were identified (work-bound, work-bound with future educational plans, and work-bound but unsure/undecided about postsecondary education), and each group was compared to college-bound…

Questionnaires to determine political influence aspirations were distributed to 292 members of a rural Wisconsin high school junior class. Results indicated that a large proportion of these youth neither wished to nor believed that they could be politically influential at age 25 or even at age 45. (DS)

A survey of 124 African-American high school juniors and seniors in the rural South investigated factors related to interest in teaching as a career. Approximately one-third of participants indicated an interest in teaching; 75% of the rest were interested in health care professions or owning their own business. Nine data tables summarize results.…

A study examined how rural youth perceive leadership and how sense of place affects those perceptions. Interviews and observations of 12 students who participated in a leadership academy in 3 rural Texas high schools indicated that rural adolescents viewed leadership as situational. Teamwork and service were the elements of leadership that…

Risk factors associated with teenage pregnancy were studied among 95 Hispanic, Native American, and White ninth-grade females at a rural New Mexico high school. All respondents, regardless of ethnicity, reported moderate levels of health-compromising behaviors such as alcohol use, poor communication with parents regarding sex, and a false sense of…