Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. students attend rural schools. Researchers report that at least half of public schools are rural in 12 states (i.e., Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Mississippi) (Showalter et al., 2019). Providing quality education to all rural students is a…

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. students attend rural schools. Researchers report that at least half of public schools are rural in 12 states (i.e., Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Mississippi) (Showalter et al., 2019). Providing quality education to all rural students is a…

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. students attend rural schools. Researchers report that at least half of public schools are rural in 12 states (i.e., Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Mississippi) (Showalter et al., 2019). Providing quality education to all rural students is a…

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…

Relationships play a strong role in rural communities and education, and multiplex relationships--relationships that can overlap due to multiple contexts of interaction in a rural school--are unique to the rural setting. This study focused on multiplex relationships and their impact on science classroom performance, as measured by science…

In this descriptive and comparative study, we present results highlighting the complexity and scope of the challenges facing rural districts as they navigate the changing demographics of the students and families they serve. Rapid increases in the number and concentration of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students in rural areas…

Partnerships between the USDA and rural colleges are one approach that allows individual students and regional economies to fulfill their potential. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has made a decision to be involved with rural community colleges, which has really made a difference on what is happening on campus. Through a dizzying array…

Examines English teaching practices in American rural schools from 1900-40, emphasizing schools in Iowa. Discusses the Country Life Movement, which proposed significant reforms for rural education and rural living. Surveys English teaching practices undertaken in its spirit. Concludes with an assessment of the movement and a discussion of its…

The proceedings consist of the entire major addresses of Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum, Steve Miller, and Walter Turner, and abbreviated versions of 29 other papers or presentations. The materials deal with a variety of rural-focused topics: women (Evelyn Hausmann); teacher career ladder plans (Paul Burden); inservice (Robert Norton, Myron…

State equalization programs for school funding have been structured around variously weighted combinations of district wealth, tax effort and student need. For rural and small school districts, these programs have not always provided adequate financing. Nine rural school finance alternatives are suggested. (MH)

Reviewing the history of rural education reform, this paper argues for a policy of improving rural schools on their strengths, rather than a policy of consolidation. Since the late 1970's, rural school reform has placed greater emphasis on developing policies and educational strategies that allow rural schools to be different from urban schools…

Many rural school districts struggling with declining elementary school enrollments will soon face the more complex problems of declining high school enrollment. School districts with only one high school do not have the option of consolidation and must find innovative solutions to the problem of maintaining educational quality with dwindling…

In the face of declining enrollments, many Iowa rural school districts have begun sharing superintendents. In 1988-89, 88 districts shared 44 superintendents; 42 of these participated in structured interviews for this study. All participants were male. Interviewees indicated that most school boards had undertaken the new arrangement because the…

This theme issue of "State Education Leader" contains eight articles on rural education. "The Rural Bellwether" (Kathy Christie) discusses declining enrollment in rural schools, rural problems with teacher shortages and special education funding, issues related to school size and school district size, and distance learning…

An overview of the history of rural school consolidation in north central Iowa reveals that by 1994, 9 of the 10 high schools in towns of less than 500 in 1940 had closed, and 3 of the 5 high schools in towns with populations of 500-999 had closed. However, all three towns with populations over 1,000 in 1940 had high schools in 1993-94. This…