News Archives (2007)

Why Rural Matters 2007

(October 2007) The Rural School and Community Trust has just released Why Rural Matters 2007: The Realities of Rural Education Growth, the fourth in a biennial research series providing essential information on the condition of rural education in each of the 50 states. The report uncovered new trends and challenges facing rural educators. Overall, enrollment in rural schools is up by 15%, a reversal of the year-over-year declines these communities have seen. While overall enrollment is on the rise the most startling data revealed in the report is the 55% increase in rural minority students, with some states experiencing increases of over 100%.Why Rural Matters 2007 also serves as a reminder that many rural schools continue to face a number of challenges, including high poverty levels, low student achievement, low teacher salaries, and uneven distribution of Title I funds. The report and other materials are available online at www.ruraledu.org/whyruralmatters. There, you can download information specific to your state and read more about the trends and changes that are impacting rural schools and communities.

National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) Releases Status of Education in Rural America

(July 2007) In 2006, NCES released a new classification system to make the reporting of locale data consistent across its various surveys and to be more precise in its classification of rural areas. This report brings together data from NCES and Census surveys and applies the new classification system to create a series of indicators on the status of education in rural America. The data used in these indicators are drawn from the most recent versions of NCES's Common Core of Data (CCD), Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), the Fast Response Survey System (FRSS), and Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). To see the report, click here.

Regional Education Lab - Southwest Releases How the Government Defines Rural has Implications for Education Policies and Practices Report

(June 2007) Clearly defining what rural means has tangible implications for public policies and practices in education, from establishing resource needs to achieving the goals of No Child Left Behind in rural areas. In this report released by the Regional Educational Lab - Southwest, six definitions of rural commonly applied in different contexts are explored. To see the full report, click here.

Massachusetts Schools and Farms Link Up

(May 2007) Frank B. Maher Jr., the director of school food services for the 6,400-student Westfield, Mass., school district, knows exactly where his shiny apples, crisp pears, and vine-ripened tomatoes are coming from. About 25 percent of the produce used in the district´s school lunch program comes from local growers. There´s a benefit to keeping money in the community, but there´s another obvious plus, Mr. Maher says: The locally grown produce just tastes better. To see the rest of this story from Education Week, click here. (Free registration required)

Bridging the Rural Charity Gap

(May 2007) The Wall Street Journal reports that rural areas get fewer charitable dollars per capita than urban parts of the country. Now some charities are trying to tackle this philanthropic divide. Behind the gap are issues of perception and geography. Most foundations are based in urban centers and have a limited picture of what constitutes "rural," says Karl Stauber, chief executive of Northwest Area Foundation of St. Paul, Minn. Rural America includes four types of regions, all of which can have economic needs, he says: scenic areas that attract tourism, areas within commuting distance of metropolitan centers, agricultural regions and isolated parts of the country such as mountains and deserts. Click here to see the full story.

States Seeking Greater Rural Flexibility Under NCLB

(April 2007) Representatives from predominently rural states, including Joseph Bard from the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools (PARSS), assembled in Washington to urge legislators to reconsider provisions of NCLB that constrain rural district's abilities to help struggling students. Proposed changes include retooling the distribution of Title I funds, easing the requirements for "highly qualified" teachers for rural districts, and addressing the issue of rural availability in terms of supplemental services required under NCLB. Click here to see the full story.

College of Education Dean Authors Article Concerning Education Policy in Rural Areas

(April 2007) Dean David Monk of the Penn State University College of Education has recently published an article titled, “Recruiting and Retaining High Quality Teachers in Rural Areas” in the March 2007 issue of The Future of Children: Excellence in the Classroom, published by The Brookings Institution and Princeton University. Access the news story here, the article here, or view the entire issue here.

New Research Validates Studies Showing Small Schools Reduce Power of Poverty on Achievement

(January 2007) The January issue of Rural Policy Matters reports on a recent study that attempted to identify reasons other than school size to explain the apparent ability of small schools to reduce the impact of poverty on student achievement. The study concluded that the findings of earlier studies on the subject are valid: smaller school size is indeed associated with a weakening of the relationship between poverty and student achievement. Click here to see the full story.