The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how elementary teachers and their respective administrators from rural Southwestern US school districts perceive the influence of general education curricular access--a dimension of UDL--on academic progress for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Universal Design for…

As many as 41 million Americans live in "higher education deserts" -- at least half an hour's drive from the nearest college or university and with limited access to community college. Many of these deserts are in rural America, which is one reason so much of rural America is less prosperous than it deserves to be. The lack of higher…

The National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) seeks to increase opportunity for rural students through the power of actionable data and evidence. NCRERN partners with networks of rural school districts to generate and evaluate strategies for improving student outcomes. For more information about NCRERN's work, see the…

The focus of this project study was the lack of adoption of open educational resources (OER) by community college faculty members at a rural community college in the southwestern United States. The study site failed to meet their strategic plan goal of having 50% of all courses using OER by July 2022. The purpose of this exploratory, basic…

This research examined preservice teachers' beliefs about critical literacy praxis in a rural teacher education program. Using qualitative methods, preservice teachers participated in interviews, reflective engagements, and picture book analysis. Thematic analysis was used to understand preservice teacher reflections on critical literacy,…

This qualitative research study was conducted to gain insight into the perceptions of a small rural school district's dyslexia program. Dyslexia is a neurological reading disability affecting millions of students in public education. Students with dyslexia have a deficit in the phonological component of language causing their struggle with reading…

Rapid urban development in small rural communities is occurring at an unprecedented pace in regional Aotearoa New Zealand. Despite this growth, rural schools are positioned at the margins of the planning process and the implications of this urbanisation trend remains unknown. This research challenges the notion of the rural-urban divide by…

This study investigates the impacts of a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program on rural STEM educators and reports teachers' perspectives on how these experiences influence classroom practices. The program of focus occurred at a mid-sized university in the upper Midwest from 2016-2019. Over this period, eleven rural secondary STEM…

College and career readiness has become a national education policy priority. With more than 9.3 million rural students in the United States, the college and career readiness of rural students is a warranted priority for rural education researchers. Using a combination of Conley's (2012) college and career readiness model, Perna's (2006) nested…

Issues of school choice regularly appear in popular discourse related to resources, equity, and freedom in education. Although school choice policies and initiatives promote a vision of additional schooling options for all students, the predominant target of choice advocates and researchers has been densely populated, urban cores in the United…

This paper reflects the challenges and opportunities created by teaching and learning music remotely, due to the impact of COVID-19, for students and teachers living in regional areas of Australia. How teachers can collaborate with students to build positive outcomes by providing creative opportunities and presenting and promoting diversity while…

Can families in low-income contexts "pull themselves up by their bootstraps?" In rural Gambia, caregivers with high aspirations for their children, measured before the child starts school, invest substantially more in their children's education. Despite this, essentially no children are literate or numerate three years later. In…

Supporting online faculty at the "community college" level to prepare them to "teach online" can be a complex matter. Faculty who are first entering the online teaching environment often start with training to help them prepare to teach online. Supporting faculty who are teaching online means understanding faculty and their…

The purpose of this study was to identify ways a Global Schools Initiative in rural schools, especially in northwestern North Carolina, supported students, teachers, and the greater community. The study reviewed the factors that facilitated this initiative and looked at the impact the initiative had on students, teachers, and the community. I…

In 1983 the National Commission for Excellence in Education investigated claimed that U.S. schools were failing to adequately educate children. The Commission identified many inconsistencies nationwide in areas of access, teacher standards, learning standards, and accountability. This investigation led to an evolution of legislation such as the No…