The State of Rural Education Research: Connecting Youth to their Future and Preserving their Sense of Place Thomas W. Farmer Acknowledgment: Institute of Education Sciences United States Department of Education

Background Rural Education Research Symposium Panel “ Does Rural Research Count Today or Tomorrow?” Important changes --Creation of the Rural R & D Center (NRCRES) --Change in the role of Regional Education Laboratories --Creation of the Center for Rural Education As we increase our focus on putting experimentally proven practices into the field, how do we continue and strengthen basic research to ensure that our efforts are responsive to the developmental needs of rural youth and the communities they grow up in?

Background “Where has all the ‘Rural’ Gone?” (Sherwood, 2000) “ How to Make Rural Education Research Rural: An Essay in Practical Advice” (Howley, 1997)

Background: Continued “Why Rural Matters 2005” (Rural School and Community Trust, 2005) “ A Look at the Condition of Rural Education Research” ( Arnold, Newman, Gaddy, & Dean, 2005)

Impressions There is relatively little infrastructure or support that is specific to rural education but there is a great need for rural education research Rural education research needs to be linked to understanding rural communities Rural education research is difficult to do We must examine the educational needs of rural youth in relation to their connection to rural places and the impact of this connection on their development and their future

What Makes Rural Education Research a Complicated Enterprise? The Mission of Rural Education Diversity Issues of Critical Mass

Mission of Rural Education Connecting Youth to their Futures --Less looking to past generations --More exploration of the unknown Preserving their “sense of place” –Connected to place –Connected to lifestyle –Connected to generational history Tensions between the Two –“When moving up means moving out” (Hektner, 1995) –Educating out and giving back Research Implications: Interventions and outcome measures must be sensitive to these tensions

Diversity in Rural Education Many Different “Rural Worlds” –Rural can refer to very disparate areas –Some areas share many commonalities but also have critical differences that impact key outcomes Diversity within the same region or community –Ethnic, cultural, and economic differences –Town kids, farm kids, and country kids Research Implications: When designing research we must carefully select study sites to avoid comparing apples and oranges

Issues of Critical Mass in Rural Education Geographic/Community Characteristics –Isolated areas, difficult to reach –Comparable areas are widely scattered Population characteristics –Small and changing populations –“Mix” of population characteristics vary greatly –Teacher and school characteristics –Some populations are completely unique Research Implications: Sometimes it may be prohibitively expensive or impossible to identify control samples for populations that are of high interest. There is a need to establish strategies to broaden the capacity to conduct experimental research in these circumstances.

Rural Education Research: The Need for a Broad Range of Research Approaches Descriptive Studies of Rural Education Issues –Rural Matters (Rural School and Community Trust) –Place based education and school reform (D’Amico & Nelson 2000; Jennings, 2000) –Profiles of rural schools that are successful –Surveys and case studies regarding technology use and needs Research Implications: Basic descriptive work is important to serve as a foundation for designing experimental studies. There is a need to establish an infrastructure that promotes the systematic coordination between descriptive research agendas and experimental/evaluation studies

The Need for a Broad Range of Research Approaches (Continued) Policy, economic, and sociological analyses of issues related to rural schooling –Facilities and infrastructure –Funding practices and personnel needs –Community, population, & generational dynamics Research Implications: Mechanisms need to be established that foster interdisciplinary efforts to bring together education researchers and other social scientists to address critical issues that are beyond the scope of experimental research

The Need for a Broad Range of Research Approaches (Continued) Analyses of large scale databases to clarify broad needs –May help uncover unidentified issues and needs –Can highlight issues/characteristics that are uniquely rural –May yield misleading views without appropriate attention to the collection & disaggregation of data in meaningful ways Research Implications: There is a need for the rural education research community to work closely with the National Center for Educational Statistics and Sate Departments of Public Instruction to ensure that large scale databases are designed in ways that are responsive to rural education concerns

The Need for a Broad Range of Research Approaches (Continued) Survey and Qualitative Research to Clarify Professional Development and Personnel Needs Many teachers are frustrated – We need to hear their stories Teachers are important sources of information - Surveys are needed to get their views about educational practice, professional development, and teacher retention Administrative turnover is commonplace - Why does it occur? How can it be reduced? What can be done to minimize deleterious consequences? Research Implications: We need descriptive research on professional development issues to help facilitate more effective randomized control trials. We may view an effective strategy as ineffective because we lacked information relevant to implementation.

The Need for a Broad Range of Research Approaches (Continued) Longitudinal studies on the developmental patterns of rural youth and the communities they grow up in. –Rural developmental pathways to rural adulthoods –Rural developmental pathways to connected but non-rural lives –Community economic development patterns and the career development of rural youth –How can rural youth resolve the tension between pursuing their futures and preserving their connections to the community? Research implications: The developmental needs of rural youth and their communities must be at the center of rural education research.

What Can Be Done To Strengthen Rural Education Research? Build better connections within and among: –The rural education research community –Regional education laboratories –Teacher preparation programs

Strengthening Rural Education Research Establish mechanisms to enhance the competitiveness of rural applications: –Elevated funding levels to compensate for issues of geographical isolation and critical mass –Competitions that are rural issue specific –Competitions that pair faculty from teacher education programs and research universities to address professional development issues in rural areas

Strengthening Rural Education Research Are there lessons to be learned from special education? Parallels between rural and special education –Need to prepare youth for their adult futures in ways that go beyond general academic skills –Issues of critical mass –Extreme diversity –Small and unique samples –Inability to establish matched-controls

Conclusions This is a pivotal time in rural education research –Rural education research needs to be recognized as an enterprise that is distinct from general education research in terms of mission, circumstances, and scope –There is a need to establish federal funding mechanisms and a research infrastructure that are specifically designed for rural education –We need to ensure that the development and future of rural youth and the places they grow up in are at the center of rural education research initiatives –The rural education research agenda must be built from the voices of the rural community

Where do we go from here? We need to hear from you. Wednesday morning – US Dept of Education Focus Group on the “Condition of Education in Rural Schools” Center Coordinator: Rachel Goolsby