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Ruraledu.org
New "Why Rural
Matters" Report Now Available
As the 2016 presidential election has brought newfound attention to
rural areas, a new 50-state report urges state and federal leaders to
make rural students and their communities a far greater priority.
The new edition of Why Rural Matters, from the nonprofit, nonpartisan
Rural School and Community Trust, provides an overall “priority”
ranking of the 50 states, showing the greatest needs in rural
education. The report also ranks the states and includes state-by-state
data on demographics and poverty, student achievement, state resources,
and college and career readiness.
“While some rural schools thrive, far too many rural students face
nothing less than a national emergency. Many rural schools and
districts face vastly inequitable funding and simply cannot provide the
opportunities that many suburban and urban schools do,” said Robert
Mahaffey, the executive director of the Rural School and Community
Trust, based in Washington, D.C.
Rural schools offer many attributes of quality schools that parents
want for their children: smaller settings, personal attention, and a
strong sense of community and identity. But many rural schools and
students face serious challenges, the report shows.
Some of the Why Rural Matters report’s key findings:
Lots of students are rural: Nearly 8.9 million students attend rural
schools—more than the enrollments of the New York City, Los Angeles,
Chicago—and incredibly, the nation’s next 75 largest school districts
combined. More than one in four schools are rural, more than one in six
students attend schools in rural areas, and more than one in four rural
students is a child of color. At least half of public schools are rural
in 13 states.
Many districts are very small: Half of rural school districts in 23
states have enrollment smaller than 485 students (the national median
enrollment for rural districts)
States with greatest rural needs: The top 10 national “priority”
states—those with the greatest needs in rural schools across an array
of measures—are: 1) Mississippi, 2) Arizona, 3) Alabama, 4) South
Carolina, 5) South Dakota, 6) Georgia, 7) Nevada, 8) Florida, 9)
Oklahoma and 10) Alaska.
Most rural students live in big states: Half the nation’s rural
students live in just 10 states. The largest rural enrollments are in
Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia,
Alabama, Indiana, and Michigan.
Achievement impressive overall—but low in some states: On average,
student achievement in rural schools is comparable to those in suburban
areas on the Nation’s Report Card (the National Assessment of
Educational Progress, or NAEP). Even still, scores are lowest for rural
students in New Mexico, Mississippi, Alabama, Hawaii, and Louisiana.
Rural readiness varies: Measures of students’ preparedness for higher
education and career paths are mixed nationally. A majority of rural
11th and 12th graders in Ohio take one or more Advanced Placement
course, but only 5 percent do in Louisiana. Fewer than one in four
rural juniors and seniors take the SAT or ACT in California and Oregon.
Diversity is substantial: Rural America’s demographics are changing
like those of many places across the country: The majority of rural
students identify as nonwhite in several states, including California.
In New Mexico, 85 percent of rural students are children of color, the
highest rate in the U.S.; the state also has the highest rate of
students from low-income families at 85 percent. Nevada has the
nation’s highest mobility rate for rural students at 17
percent—followed by Oregon and Colorado.
Resources, equity elusive: Resources for rural schools often are still
a major problem. Per-student investment for rural students is lowest in
Idaho and Oklahoma, each spending less than $4,400 per rural student,
and highest in Alaska and New York, each spending roughly $12,000 per
student. Rural educator pay is often low, despite challenges in finding
and keeping quality educators. Salary averages are lowest in Kansas,
Missouri, and Arkansas, and highest in Alaska and New York.
Lack of early childhood programs: Most of the top 10 overall “priority”
states enrolled no more than 12 percent of their 4 year olds in public
pre-K classes—including South Dakota, Nevada, Alaska, Mississippi, and
Arizona, all of which enrolled 6 percent or less of eligible preschool
students.
Read this and other articles at Ruraledu.org
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