The Rural Opportunities Consortium of Idaho, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, and Bellwether Education Partners have teamed up to write a new report, “Federal Education Policy In Rural America”. The authors of the report believe that, while roughly a quarter of American students are educated in rural areas, federal policy is not suited to the needs of rural education.
Following is an excerpt from the introduction:
It’s critical that federal policy complement and support the efforts of rural educators. Rural districts face unique challenges, such as maintaining a rich set of course offerings, attracting and retaining teachers, and managing administrative overhead due to their small size and remote geographies. Federal policy can catalyze much needed reform and innovation in rural K–12, some of which will yield lessons that could be extended to districts nationwide.
Recommendations included within the report are as follows:
- Encourage Rural Schools to Fully Embrace Blended Learning
- Encourage Rural Districts to Fully Embrace Administrative Service Sharing
- Expand Broadband Access
- Attract Teachers to Rural America
- Remember Native and ELL Students
To read the full report, please visit:
http://www.rociidaho.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/ROCI_2014FedEdPolicy_Final.pdf
