Three rural setting characteristics distinguishing rural SIG schools' improvement contexts¶

Theory · All theories
Evidence · 6 claims (6 for) · 1 study (1 qualitative), q2 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 6 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The brief organizes rural context around three characteristics that distinguish rural SIG schools from nonrural ones and may influence improvement efforts: "distance to an urban center or metropolitan area," "geographic spread with low population density," and "small community size." Distance affects staffing and access to external professional development and support providers; geographic spread affects tax base, transportation, and after-school participation; small community size means small staffs, multi-subject teaching loads, but also stronger staff-student relationships.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Data on school locale, distance to urban centers, and county population density to categorize a school's rural context

Constraints¶

• The nine schools are a purposive sample not necessarily representative of rural SIG schools nationwide

Target Learners¶

• Students in rural low-performing schools receiving SIG funds

Target Learning Objectives¶

• Understand how community context shapes school improvement efforts in staffing, parent involvement, and instructional improvement

Claims¶

• Rural Sig Schools Additional Location Challenges [+M]
• Rural Teacher Commutes Hinder Staffing [+M]
• Rural SIG schools were more likely than nonrural SIG schools to adopt the transformation model (95 versus 74 percent) [+W]
• Rural SIG schools perceived transportation access and home-school distance as location-related barriers to parent involvement [+W]
• Respondents in two of nine rural SIG schools saw transportation costs and catchment size as making it best to increase learning time within the existing schedule rather than extend the school day [+W]
• Small rural teaching staffs forced PLCs across grades and subjects, and teachers in four schools felt isolated from same-subject colleagues [+W]

Related Theories¶

Examples¶

• Nine rural schools within a 35-school SIG school improvement process study

Key Sources¶

• A Focused Look at Rural Schools Receiving School Improvement Grants. (2014). NCEE Evaluation Brief, NCEE 2014-4013. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20144013/