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Latest Issue of Rural Roots
Learn about living and learning in the ultimate rural communities--islands,
along with the usual publications of note and much more in our monthly
newsletter focusing on rural education policy.
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 November Issue of Rural Policy
Matters
Learn about the fallout from the suspension of the E-Rate program, get an
update on the efforts on school reform in Georgia, find out about the GAO
report on the extra challenges rural schools face in complying with No
Child Left Behind and much more in our monthly newsletter focusing on rural
education policy.
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Nebraska
Schools Facing Toughest Challenge Get Least Money
Nebraska school systems with the lowest test scores serve more students who
face socio-economic barriers to academic achievement than do other Nebraska
schools, but have to do it with less money, according to a new analysis.
Compared with higher achieving schools, the lowest achieving schools serve
communities with more students who live in poverty, lower household
incomes, fewer adults with high school diplomas, more students still
learning the English language and more minority students.
Read Full Report
Press Release
Small
Southern High Schools Beating the Odds in Poor Rural Communities
High schools in poverty-stricken rural areas and small towns in the South
are beating the odds to outperform most other schools in their state. In a
new report prepared for the  Southern Governor's
Association, Beating
the Odds: High Performing High Schools in the South, the Rural
School and Community Trust chronicles exceptional schools in the poorest
regions of the rural South and the secrets behind the high quality
education they provide. The schools were studied based on seven principles and standards ranging from curriculum and
instruction to facilities, and rated using a rubric. An in-depth
case study from the site-visit to Shaw High School in Mississippi
provides insights into the factors creating success in these schools.
Learn More
Press Release
New Report
Finds Significant Benefits of Distance Learning in Rural Education
 In a new report from
the Rural School and Community Trust, The Promise and the Power of Distance
Learning in Rural Education, Vicki Hobbs explains how the benefits of
distance learning, and in particular two-way interactive television (I-TV),
can far outweigh the costs-allowing the small, rural schools that educate
one-third of our nation's children to retain the assets associated with
their small size, while overcoming curricular limitations.
Read Press
Release
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Students,
Parents, School Board Members, School Districts Say Nebraska School Funding
System is Unconstitutional
A Coalition of public school districts, several individual districts, and a
group of students and their parents and local school board members filed a
lawsuit in Lancaster County District Court August 27, 2004 claiming the
Nebraska school funding system is unconstitutional.
Read Press Release
Visit
Nebraska Coalition for Educational Equity & Adequacy Website
Charleston
Gazette
Publishes President of the Rural Trust Rachel Tompkins' Response to
Secretary of Education Rod Paige's Editorial on How No Child Left Behind
Affects Rural Schools
On July 25, while in Charleston visiting colleagues at Challenge West
Virginia, I read Secretary of Education Rod Paige’s statement  of
praise for the impact of No Child Left Behind in West Virginia. Like the
law itself, Secretary Paige’s pronouncements drop from the sky with little
experience in or understanding of rural schools in general, and West
Virginia schools in particular.
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Fact Sheet:
Most Rural Students Left Behind Under Department of Education's New
"Flexibility" Rules Regarding Highly Qualified Teachers
A new analysis by the Rural School and Community Trust of the Highly
Qualified Teacher flexibility provisions under the No Child Left Behind Act
finds that the new rules actually leave behind three-quarters of the
nation's 38,000 rural and small town schools.
Read the
Fact Sheet
Place-Based
Learning Assessment System
 Developed
by the Rural Trust in conjunction with the Educational Testing Service
(ETS), the Rural School and Community Trust's Portfolio-Based Assessment
System for place-based learning includes many examples of community-school
project portfolios focusing on student learning from rural schools around
the country. The information is designed to complement training offered by
members of the Rural Trust staff and Rural Faculty, and to provide
resources for schools and communities to document and assess the value of
place-based learning programs; involve the community in the assessment
process; share the results publicly; and use the evidence gathered to
strengthen ongoing and new place-based education programs. ETS worked with
the Rural Trust staff, consultants from the Harvard Graduate School of
Education, and members of a Portfolio Design Team from 10 rural sites
across the U.S. to field-test the assessment process over a two year
period, and to design the site.
Access the Site Now
Why Rural
Matters 2003: The Continuing Need for Every State to Take Action on Rural
Education
This is the second analysis from the Rural Trust on education in rural
America from a wide variety of sources. The report's conclusion: specific
policy attention to rural school needs is critically needed in many states.
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