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…

Teachers must hold the expectation that all students in their classes can achieve despite cultural mismatches. Schools wanting to improve the learning outcomes of students that take measures to increasing teacher self-efficacy to work with diverse populations often see a marked improvement in student achievement. The problem addressed in this…

This paper utilizes an exploratory case study method to examine the factors that attract and motivate teachers to stay in a remote, northern Canadian community. Bakan's (1966) framework of agency and communion, provides a lens for exploring and understanding teachers' experiences of working in the north where the term "the North" is…

This article shows how community libraries can create and support literate environments, which are essential for building and sustaining literacy skills in local communities. The paper begins with a subject analysis reviewing available background materials and literature on the topic. Next, relevant issues are considered based on experiences and…

In this paper, recent research into the global movement of teachers [C. Reid, J. Collins, and M. Singh. 2014. "Global Teachers, Australian Perspectives: Goodbye Mr Chips, Hello Ms Banerjee." Singapore: Springer] and their experiences in rural areas of Australia are discussed in order to make the case for a cosmopolitan education theory…

This paper describes a digital storytelling project, completed with two classes of "non-college bound" Seniors at Shady Grove High School in the Midwestern United States. Using narrative inquiry as a methodological framework, student's stories were examined and considered as meaningful contributions to current knowledge about issues in…

Read It Again (RIA) is a curriculum for pre-kindergarten (pre-K) classrooms that targets children's development of language and literacy skills. A cluster randomized trial was conducted in which 104 pre-K classrooms in the Appalachian region of the United States were randomly assigned to one of three study conditions: Control (n = 30), RIA only…

Increasing teacher retention in First Nations communities has been identified in the literature as requiring attention. When attrition rates are high and teacher efficacy, quality of student experience, and overall academic achievement is compromised, efforts to mobilize plans for stability are needed. Through a narrative re-storying approach this…

This article describes a statewide online alternative teacher preparation program in early childhood special education. The history and evolution of the program is explained along with the programmatic changes that resulted from working with noncertified teachers with a wide variety of backgrounds in both rural and urban districts. Challenges and…

This study examines how rural school and community leaders in one of the most rural areas of the United States are able to collaboratively design a grassroots school reform initiative to address inequity issues related to childhood poverty and trauma. Through interviews conducted with advisory board members implementing the reform effort, as well…

This article explores how social movement co-governance of public education offers an alternative to neoliberal educational models. The Brazilian Landless Workers Movement (MST) is one of the largest social movements in Latin America. We describe one of the many schools that the MST co-governs, the Itinerant School Paths of Knowledge (Caminhos do…

In South Africa, rural education and development are issues of social justice, especially in places that were previously established as homelands. This article presents some of the tensions that are inherent in the conceptions of rurality, rural education and the possibility of sustainable rural education and development. We propose the notion of…

British Columbia (BC) has experienced a significant teacher shortage for years. While every region of the province is impacted, rural and remote communities have experienced a worsening shortage especially during the pandemic. Additionally, there is a critical shortage of specialist teachers across the province. This Education Brief outlines five…

The rural education landscape once consisted of one-room schools where a single teacher educated, took care of and supervised students of diverse ages. While multi-grade teaching is still common in many schools, particularly in primary education, increased government spending, better transport networks and higher social expectations have given…

This article attends to rural school leadership in two South African schools through the lens of the concepts of relational leadership and emotional labour. The inquiry draws on five years of guided conversations and observations that speak to leadership experiences of hope and anticipation as well as despair and disillusionment. I worked with one…