Educational Equity for Rural Students: Out of the Pandemic, but Still Out of the Loop. A Five-Part Series. Part 5: Parent and Community Supports Are Assets of Rural Schools

Center for Public Education, National School Boards Association. 1680 Duke Street 2nd Floor, Alexandria, VA 22314. Tel: 703-838-6722; Fax: 703-683-7590; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: https://www.nsba.org/Services/Center-for-Public-Education

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26

Policymakers; Administrators; Teachers; Parents

Rural Schools; Equal Education; Parent School Relationship; School Community Relationship; Pandemics; COVID-19; Elementary Secondary Education; Family School Relationship; Barriers; Rural Education; Educational Policy; Educational Opportunities; Access to Education; Educational Practices; Educational Quality; Public Schools

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. students attend rural schools. Researchers report that at least half of public schools are rural in 12 states (i.e., Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Alaska, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Wyoming, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Mississippi) (Showalter et al., 2019). Providing quality education to all rural students is a daunting task and needs the support of policy and research. In 2018, the Center for Public Education (CPE) of the National School Boards Association published "Out of the Loop: Rural Schools Are Largely Left out of Research and Policy Discussions, Exacerbating Poverty, Inequity, and Isolation" (ED608842), a comprehensive report on U.S. rural K-12 public education. Today, the data and research presented in the report are about five years old. However, the facts, together with the suggested policies and practices about rural education, are still valid and accurate. After a two-year pandemic, issues related to funding, teacher recruitment and retention, and serving disadvantaged students have become more severe in rural school districts. This five-part series is a data-driven study to inform policymakers, school leaders, educators, and parents. The primary research goal was to examine educational equity for rural students. In this concluding report, the focus is on stories of rural families that go beyond statistics and delve into specific challenges rural parents encounter when getting involved in their children's education. Strategic recommendations are provided for rural school districts to support their communities better and enhance educational outcomes.

ERIC

2024

ED650175