Issues in Rural Education Research: Views from the National Research Center on Rural Education Suppo

1
Issues in Rural Education Research Views from
the National Research Center on Rural Education
Support

• Thomas W. Farmer
• Pennsylvania State University

2
Common Issues In Diverse Rural Areas

• Educational needs of at-risk youth
• Issues of critical mass and geographical
  isolation
• Limited resources and professional development
• Commitment to local issues and concept of place
  

3
NRCRES Research Agenda

• Supporting Teachers of Rural Students with Unique
  Needs
• TRI
• Project Real
• EROL
• Professional Development and Delivery Strategies
• Real time support
• Institutes and face-to-face consultation
• Video conferencing and discussion boards
• Identifying Additional Research Needs
• HSA
• Teacher and administrator attention
• Special education delivery issues

4
Lessons Learned Rural Intervention Research

• There is more than one rural
• Intervention design must be responsive to
  different contexts
• Research design can be challenging and
  identifying comparable sites for randomization is
  very difficult
• Increased research costs
• Variability in district and school
  configurations, critical mass
• Isolation increases both staffing and travel
  costs
• Place matters
• Pride, loyalty, and identity linked to the land
  or the community
• Expectation that curriculum and instruction is
  linked to place
• School is viewed as a primary anchor of the
  community

5
Improving Rural Education Research

• Descriptive and Process Data
• Reduce focus on broad sweeping rural-urban
  comparisons
• Examine rural communities with configurations of
  similar issues and characteristics
• Systematically document the diversity and
  complexity of rural education research needs
• Establish Models of Educational Research that are
  Rural Specific
• Develop research support mechanisms that are
  responsive to the complexity and diversity of
  rural schools and communities
• Partnerships between local teacher colleges and
  research universities
• Develop interdisciplinary research teams with
  diverse methodologies and perspectives to
  document issues in various types of rural
  communities