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…

Rural poverty rises to higher levels than poverty in urban and suburban areas, and rural communities and their schools face greater isolation, which means that families must travel farther than their urban and suburban counterparts to access available services and learning opportunities. Elaine Weiss describes two rural communities, one in…

Many children and their families in rural America need better and more equitable educational opportunities. "Leveling the Playing Field" highlights the many and varied opportunities for Congress to act to ensure rural students receive the education they need and are given an equitable chance to succeed. The following policy initiatives…

The majority of rural students attend school in a state where they make up less than 25 percent of public school enrollment. More than one rural student in four lives in states where rural students constitute less than 15 percent of overall enrollment. "Why Rural Matters 2018-19: The Time Is Now," shows that nearly 7.5 million public…

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…

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,…

This study analyzed challenges faced by teachers in rural and Indigenous schools, and the impact of pedagogical mentorship in contributing towards more culturally and linguistically relevant education. Using a case from Guatemala, this article explored pedagogical mentorship as an in-service teacher training resource for multi-lingual and…

This article describes an innovative approach, developed by North Carolina State University, to prepare leaders specifically for work in rural schools in high poverty districts. Operating with Race-to-the-Top funding, the Northeast Leadership Academy is a selective program with embedded practice and focused summer community internships. The…

This study explores the use of constructivist pedagogy promoting learner-centered teaching in Kenya's rural primary schools. It explores both the school-based as well as bureaucratic hurdles to the success of constructivist pedagogy. Teacher ideologies, issues of diverse cultures and traditional beliefs, the rural context characterized by…

The centennial volume of "Review of Research in Education" ("RRE") takes a "retrospective, prospective" approach on a diverse range of education research topics spanning the last 100 years. While using historical trends as foundations for their chapters, the authors also look ahead to the most challenging issues and…

The natural beauty that surrounds many rural schools hides the troubling realities that students in these schools frequently live in poverty and the schools struggle to give these students the education they need. James A. Bryant believes that one source of the problem is the fact that so many school reforms are designed with urban schools in…

In American popular culture, the word "rural" invokes images of sunny farms and little red school-houses--while "urban" means drugs, poverty, and crime. But rural schools face many of the same challenges as their urban counterparts. The problems of rural schools are often invisible to the public and policy makers. The solutions…

Families in rural communities are often poorly connected to schools due to challenges associated with geographic isolation, poverty, inexperienced staff, inadequate resources, scheduling challenges, and low parental education. This creates problems with the access, availability, and acceptability of services. Teachers in rural schools often have…

"Why Rural Matters 2013-14" is the seventh in a series of biennial reports analyzing the contexts and conditions of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the need for policymakers to address rural education issues in their respective states. While it is the seventh in a series, this report is not simply an…

"Why Rural Matters 2011-12" is the sixth in a series of biennial reports analyzing the contexts and conditions of rural education in each of the 50 states and calling attention to the need for policymakers to address rural education issues in their respective states. While it is the sixth in a series, this report is not simply an…