Bob Schaffer on Rural Colorado

Colorado is in the midst of a hotly contested Senate race pitting Republican Bob Schaffer against Democrat Marc Udall. I've pulled out the references to rural places from the Bob on the Issues section of Mr. Schaffer's website:

Utilize beetle-killed tree waste to produce energy. Federal policy should aggressively encourage private removal and use of trees lost to infestation and other vestiges of poor forest-management practices. An opportunity exists to use this biomass for distributed energy production providing economic incentives for Colorado’s rural and mountain communities.

I guess that says it all.

Everybody Take a Deep Breath & Relax

There was a bit of a glitch today with the NREA listserv with responses to the original message being sent to everyone. These things happen, so lets refrain from sending snotty emails that end up going to everyone. On the bright side everyone used their words share their feelings. To subscribe visit the NREA website

Healthy Snacks for Schools

As a parent of 3 school-age swimmers, I understand the importance of good nutrition. Having healthy snacks available throughout the school day is important to learning because without good nutrition students aren't as alert. We try and send healthy snacks with our kids everyday but sometimes we forget or run out.

One solution is for schools to offer healthy snack options. YoNaturals, Inc. gives schools the opportunity to own their own Healthy Vending machines. The program provides healthy snacks while generating revenues for the school:

For the first time, your school can receive 100% of all profits generated while providing students with a full range of natural and organic snacks and drinks supplied to you via an easy to use online ordering system and delivered to your school FREE.

The program may be well suited for rural schools since the items are delivered for free. It may not be a fit for every school, but it's worth considering.

Senator Max Baucus on the Secure Rural Schools Program

Montana Senator Max Baucus gets it! The Secure Rural Schools program should not be funded by selling off public lands. From his Senate website:

The Secure Rural Schools program, which expired last year, is a critically important program for Montana. It provides funding for schools and road improvements that keep schools open and teachers employed in many Montana Communities. I will continue to cosponsor and fight for an extension of this important program.

Other proposals to fund the Secure Rural Schools program would sell off public lands to do so. I think that is an unacceptable solution, and I strongly oppose it. Public lands are important to our outdoor heritage and conservation legacy in Montana. We hunt, fish, and camp with our kids. The public lands we enjoy should be well managed and passed on for future generations to enjoy. We can find a better way to keep the Secure Rural Schools program running than selling off those lands.

You can make a donation on his campaign website.

Covering the Cost of School Lunch Programs

I found this report on balancing nutrition, participation, and costs in the national school lunch program interesting. At the beginning of the article are listed the following key points:

• Schools face the dual constraints of meeting nutrition requirements and covering costs.
  
• The free-meal subsidy covers most of the per meal cost, but the price paid by most paying students covers only half of the per meal cost.
  
• School foodservice managers say that to appeal to students and raise revenues, they need to offer less nutritious a la carte foods and vending snacks.

I wonder why the editors left this item of the list:

A clear way to increase revenues relative to costs is to get more students to join the lunch line. Following the lead of successful schools, an important change is to offer freshly made, healthful meals that students help to choose and that they have time to enjoy. Whether this is accomplished by completely revamping the program, by making it more efficient, or by raising prices charged to paying students, schools have shown that providing quality, nutritional meals can be done, and it can lead to higher participation rather than lower.

If you just read the key points, the implication is that schools have to offer less nutritious food in order to raise revenues. Why didn't they highlight offering freshly made, healthful foods? Maybe they didn't read the last paragraph.

The Rural Compact

The Rural Compact is a set of principles for building stronger rural communities and a stronger nation. Here's what they have to say about education:

Every child should have an equal chance to learn, excel, and help lead America to a better, brighter future. Education policy should recognize the distinctive challenges and opportunities for rural schools and reflect the unique needs of those students, families, and educators.

I'm trying to figure out whether I agree with the statement that "ever child should have a equal change to learn," or whether every child should have a fair or equitable chance. Other than that, I am in total agreement.

No Rural for Libertarians

I didn't expect to find a lot mention of rural areas on the Bob Barr Presidential Campaign website, but I expected to find at least one! I visited all 16 issues sections and there is no (none, zero, nil) mention of rural.

I don't agree with much on the Education & Homeschooling section, but I do agree with this:

Public schools should be managed locally, increasing accountability and parental involvement.

What a kooky idea!

It's hard for me to believe the Libertarian agenda would help rural schools and communities, but I could be wrong. No, I'm right.

School Consolidation Webinar

From the Rural School and Community Trust:

School Consolidation is the topic of the October 22, 2008, Rural School Innovation Network (RSIN) Webinar. The event will begin at 2 pm EDT. Across the nation, states are considering arguments for and against school closures. The key questions to be addressed include where this is happening and why, and what does current research say regarding the impact on students and rural communities. Learn what is driving these efforts and how to respond when state policy makers decide for you that your school is too small. The presentation and discussion will be led by the Rural Trust's Director of Policy, Marty Strange.

Two things about the webinar. First, we've got to get past consolidation if we want to transform rural schools and communities. Second, $45 for a webinar for nonmemebers?! Are you kidding me?

Rising Energy Costs Harm Rural Communities

From Amy Glasmeier on the Daily Yonder:

Since the 1950s, cheap energy enabled mobility through the Interstate Highway System, and the ensuing decentralization of people and economic activity benefitted rural areas. While there are no definitive studies that calculate just how much American rural development of the last 50 years owes to the low cost of transportation, nonetheless we can and should consider how today’s drastically changed circumstances will affect the potential for future economic growth of rural America.

We also need to consider how these circumstances will affect rural schools. I'm just guessing, but I don't think it's going to be pretty.

Obama On Rural Communities & Schools

From Barack Obama's offical website:

Rural communities are often left behind: Rural communities often struggle to attract capital because of lack of infrastructure and remote distances. There is less access to quality doctors, and schools have trouble recruiting teachers.

Specifically about rural schools:

Improve Rural Education: Obama and Biden will provide incentives for talented individuals to enter the teaching profession, including increased pay for teachers who work in rural areas. Obama and Biden will create a Rural Revitalization Program to attract and retain young people to rural America. Obama and Biden will increase research and educational funding for Land Grant colleges.

Prosperity for Rural America: What About Rural Schools?

From John McCain's offical website:

As President, John McCain will address the key issues facing agriculture and rural America:

• Establishing a comprehensive energy strategy
  
• Controlling taxation and regulation
  
• Judicial restraint and preserving property rights
  
• Providing a sustainable, market-driven risk management system for farmers
  
• Promoting agricultural markets and reducing trade barriers
  
• Improving incentives to invest in technology and rural infrastructure
  
• Encouraging common-sense conservation and food safety measures
  
• Securing America's borders and implementing a fair and practical immigration policy
  
• Recognizing the role of agriculture in national security
  
• Strengthen America's economic competitiveness by eliminating wasteful government spending

Nothing about rural schools? Why not?

Ralph Stanley on Barack Obama

Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley endorses Barack Obama in a radio ad. The money quote:

He understands that our kids shouldn't have to leave our communities to find work.

Sustaining Rural Schooling through Place-consciousness in Teacher Education

There is some nice rural education work coming out of Australia. The most recent piece, by Simone White and Jo-Anne Reid, looks at the need for teacher education institutions to incorporate place-conscious pedagogies into the teacher preparation curriculum. Placing Teachers? Sustaining Rural Schooling through Place-consciousness in Teacher Education has been released by the Journal of Research in Rural Education. Here's the abstract:

This paper explores two seemingly disparate areas of social inquiry: teacher education and the sustainability of rural communities in Australia. It suggests that these may be usefully understood in close connection with each other, and that healthy rural communities may be supported via reform of the ways in which teacher education prepares graduates for teaching in rural schools. In making this argument we claim that consideration and consciousness of place are important for all teacher education curricula, not merely that on offer in rural and regional centers. We call for metropolitan-based teacher education institutions to consider curriculum practices that take a more active role in fostering healthy and productive rural communities through place-conscious approaches to pedagogy (Gruenewald, 2003). At the center of this call is a concern to ensure the provision of high-quality education for children in rural families and the need for well-trained teachers who are personally and professionally equipped to address the educational needs of their communities.

By the way, I've been really impressed by the job that Kai Schafft has done as editor of JRRE. We're fortunate that Kai has taken over so ably from Ted Coladarci. Ted would be a tough act for anyone to follow, and Kai has done a terrific job!

Harry Truman Address at the 1948 National Plowing Match

The following is an excerpt from President Harry Truman's speech at the National Plowing Match in Dexter, Iowa on September 18, 1948.

I wonder how many times you have to be hit on the head before you find out who's hitting you? It's about time that the people of America realized what the Republicans have been doing to them.

Why is it that the farmer and the worker and the small businessman suffer under Republican administrations and gain under Democratic administrations?

I'll tell you why. It is the result of a basic difference in the attitude between the Democratic and the Republican parties.

The Democratic Party represents the people. It is pledged to work for agriculture. It is pledged to work for labor. It is pledged to work for the small businessman and the white-collar worker.

The Democratic Party puts human rights and human welfare first.

But the attitude of the Republican gluttons of privilege is very different. The bigmoney Republican looks on agriculture and labor merely as expense items in a business venture. He tries to push their share of the national income down as low as possible and increase his own profits. And he looks upon the Government as a tool to accomplish this purpose.

Rural Teacher of the Year

A teacher in New Harmony, Indiana has been named Rural Teacher of the Year by the National Rural Education Association. Lois Mittino Gray, a science teacher at New Harmony Junior/Senior High School, will be honored at the National Rural Education Association's 100th convention in San Antonio October 27-29.

Gray teaches six lab classes, supervises the daily care of 22 assorted lab animals, and teaches a gifted and talented program. She also is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern Indiana after her regular school hours.

She has taught at New Harmony since 1987, starting as a biology teacher educating students from the seventh to 12th grades. She serves on the New Harmony Parks and Recreation board and the New Harmony Garden Club, while promoting science education throughout southern Indiana. She created a senior level human biology class from which students can earn college credits at University of Southern Indiana.

The Rural Teacher of the Year Award is sponsored by the John Deere Co. Honorees receive a $2,000 honorarium ,and the school district receives $1,000 to purchase instructional materials and school supplies.

Very Difficult to Fill Teacher Vacancies

Rural districts had a more difficult time than nonrural districts hiring teachers in 7 out of 12 subjects examined by the National Center for Education Statistics. In 2003-2004, a higher percentage of rural schools reported it was very difficult to hire teachers in:

1. English as a second language (37.5%)
   
2. Foreign languages (35.2%)
   
3. Physical sciences (27.4%)
   
4. Special education (27.0%)
   
5. Music or art (20.5%)
   
6. Computer science (17.7%)
   
7. English/language arts (10.9%)
   

The statistics were reported in the Status of Education in Rural America, Table 3.11.

One-Size-Fits-All Policies & Practices Disadvantage Small Rural Schools

Principals of small rural schools face distinctive challenges that are not addressed by one-size-fits-all policies and practices according to a study from Australian researchers Karen Starr and Simone White. Results of the study, The Small Rural School Principalship: Key Challenges and Cross-School Responses, are reported in the Journal of Research in Rural Education.

What's Happened to the Center for Rural Education?

I hadn't heard anything for awhile from the Center for Rural Education at the U.S. Department of Education so I checked the website. The most current meeting summary available is from December 14, 2006. Does anybody know if the Center is still functioning?

Find the Rural in the REL Rural Education Project

I'm exited to see the great rural education projects the Regional Educational Laboratory System has produced with the $40 million they've spent over the past 2.5 years. This description of Effects of Odyssey Math® Software on the Mathematics Achievement of Selected Fourth Grade Students in the Mid-Atlantic Region: A Multi-Site Cluster Randomized Trial shows the commitment the Institute of Education Sciences has toward addressing the unique needs of rural school:

This study will examine the effectiveness of the CompassLearning Odyssey Math® software in 4th grade classrooms throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. The intervention group will use the Odyssey Math® package for 60 minutes per week within the school's standard Math instructional time, and have access to the developer's professional development training; the control group will use the school's regular curriculum. Key research questions to be addressed are:

1. Do Odyssey Math® classrooms outperform control classrooms on the mathematics subtest of the Terra Nova CTBS Basic Battery?
   
2. What is the effect of Odyssey® Math on the math performance of male and female students?
   
3. What is the effect of Odyssey Math® on the math performance of low and medium/high achieving students (as measured by the pretest)
   

Intervention:CompassLearning Odyssey Math® software and related training is a commercially available product and several schools in the Mid-Atlantic region either use it or expressed and interest in doing so. The software engages students in their own learning through challenging, interactive, computer-based activities that promote exploration, individual and cooperative learning, problem solving, reflection, and real-world connections. Teachers will use the software as a supplement, as opposed to a full curriculum package, and have access to a professional development package that entails summer training and follow-up coaching throughout the year. Software access is controlled via password access and the training scheme represents the standard approach the developer offers to schools.

Design and samples:The study is a multi-site cluster randomized controlled trial, where approximately 124 classrooms will be assigned to treatment and control conditions within schools (approximately 31). Schools will be recruited from the Mid-Atlantic region and preference will be given to buildings with at least four classrooms. Schools that already use Odyssey Math® in the third and fourth grades are not eligible to participate in the study.

Outcome measures:Math achievement will be measured during the 2007-08 school year using the 4th grade mathematics subtest of the Terra Nova CTBS (Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills) as pre and post-tests. The test vendor's scoring service will be used to make allowances for special education students and English language learners. To address the research question on whether there are differential impacts of the package on high/medium versus low math achievers, a series of secondary analyses will split students into groups based on pretest performance.

Study period:Recruitment and initial teacher training will take place during the 2006-2007 school year. Data will be collected during the 2007-2008 school year.

Did you see what's rural about the project? Neither did I. I'm sure it's a fine study otherwise.

America's Two Backyards

Tim Collins used to be the Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools before it was eliminated by the U.S. Department of Education. Tim reflects on the economic gap between rural and urban Illinois in a piece from the Daily Yonder:

Today, I am riding on Amtrak from Macomb (population 20,000 or so) to Chicago (incredibly large) to testify to a legislative committee about broadband policy. ... Railroads tend to run through the nation’s back yards, offering a different perspective on towns and cities you may have driven through before. There is no doubt that the Illinois landscape is beautiful on this fine day, but my eye for rural community development cannot miss some distressing sights.

Increasingly, there are two backyards in America. One set of backyards includes the so-called urban ghettos of the 1960s and many rural areas, including small towns that don’t seem to be benefiting from this time of relatively high prices for agricultural commodities. The other set of backyards includes suburbs and vital business districts such as Chicago. The contrasts between these two sets of backyards are stark.

Rural slum seems a cruel and pejorative term to describe a rural town on this bucolic day. After all, romantic images of small-town America still linger deep in our cultural memories. But many of our rural towns are deteriorating, suffering from long-term effects of population loss, limited employment opportunities, growing poverty, and an aging population. Many young people go to the suburbs and downtowns where money, people, and opportunities reside.

...

The quick take of this essay is one word: inequality. I have lived and worked in and studied rural areas for much of my adult life. Although I know the long history of rural and urban inequities all too well, entering the vibrant suburbs and business district of Chicago is still something of a shock when compared with my home in Western Illinois, which is, from time to time, dubbed “Forgotonia.”