In the wake of recent political events, rural people and places experience unfiltered and uncensored criticism. For the approximately 20% of America's children who are growing up in rural places, these stereotyped narratives are damaging and dehumanizing. To ensure the wellbeing of rural children across the United States, teacher education…

Research on the role of teacher agency has been growing significantly during the last decade. Agentic teachers act purposefully and constructively to direct their professional development and contribute to the quality of education, especially in rural areas. Professional development is mutually constituted between teachers and socio-cultural…

A growing number of charter schools are serving rural communities. More than 320,000 students are enrolled in rural charter schools across the United States. Due to a smaller population and geographic isolation, charter schools in rural areas face many challenges. The autonomy and flexibility of the charter school model can help mitigate some of…

This study, a qualitative, practitioner inquiry seeks to illuminate and examine the experiences of teachers and school leaders in a rural, Title I laboratory school in an effort to document factors related to teacher attrition and teacher retention in this setting. The participants were divided into three groups: those who had taught at the target…

Eighty percent of Colorado's students attend schools in rural or small rural school districts, but the majority of those students consistently perform below or well-below expectations on the state performance assessment (PSAT). In order to hold staff and stakeholders accountable for implementing successful strategies that lead to systemic changes,…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to gain an understanding of how veteran elementary level teachers perceive burnout as they understand their self-efficacy while returning to face-to-face instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, veteran teachers shared their lived experiences which included increased workloads, a need…

The purpose of this study was to present, compare, and contrast data collected from rural Georgia educators concerning their beliefs and knowledge of the benefits of student retention. The researcher identified the most common areas of agreement and disagreement among educators concerning grade-level retention. Additionally, the researcher…

Each year, rural school districts and economically depressed areas struggle to attract and keep certified teachers. Resources, finance, and lack of local attractions are what cause teachers to leave rural areas. These difficulties have made some of the best instructors unsatisfied with their school district, which has led them to look for a school…

The problem addressed in this quantitative study was that the second-grade students in the selected school were performing low on the tests compared to other grade levels in the selected school district. The results from the investigation on the effect of blended instruction using the Zearn® Math curriculum on student achievement, the perception…

The topic of this study was teachers' perspectives on online instructional challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic within a rural Title I school. The problem addressed in this study was that teachers were not ready to fully transition to online learning, especially teachers in rural Title I schools. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was…

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the relationship between district-level per-pupil expenditures and district-level student achievement in rural South Carolina school districts. School districts in rural South Carolina are synonymous with higher concentration of minority students and students living in poverty (Showalter, 2019). The…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to identify factors that lead to job satisfaction and the specific practices that make a difference in workplace satisfaction among teachers in order to increase educator retention. Understanding these characteristics is critical to determining the impact they have on reducing the rate of teacher…

Principals play a critical role in improving schools, but high rates of principal turnover threaten improvement gains. In this study we used a mixed-methods design to examine school, district, and community factors associated with greater principal turnover, and explore how these factors differ for rural schools. We found that rural districts tend…

In a time of fraying community and interpersonal relationships, rural school and community leaders are in search of research-based approaches to strengthen connections and sustain relationships among their students and community members. This article reports the findings from two studies (Moore, 2023; Weikert, 2022) documenting how and why, during…

The purpose of this study was to determine motivators that influence Midwest public school principals' career plans. A coming shortage of school principals has been recognized nationally. This new phenomenon has been labeled by some as Principal "Churn" or "Turnover". Principals are leaving the position and education for…