Postsecondary Community
• Integrate effective technology practices into training programs so teachers can effectively blend online and
traditional teaching strategies when they begin teaching
• Call on faculty members to provide professional development on needed topics and content areas to teachers
working in remote areas through distance learning and other technologies
Districts
• Embrace and utilize distance learning technology to ensure that all students in the district have access to supplemental
and advanced coursework and teachers who can effectively deliver instruction in those content areas
Creating Professional Learning Communities for Administrators
In those rural schools that experience success in improving student achievement, school leadership has a large role
to play. However, in rural areas, administrators often lack access to robust professional learning communities due to
the small number of administrators in their systems and physical distance between administrators in other districts.
State Departments of Education
• Enhance existing professional development opportunities by using technology to connect school leaders across
districts so they can share best practices on what works and what doesn’t when setting a vision of reform for
rural schools and engaging all stakeholders in it
• Assist districts in providing high quality professional development opportunities for current and future rural school leaders
Forming Community Partnerships to Enhance Educational Opportunities
The success of rural schools and their surrounding community is inextricably linked. In those schools and
communities that are making strides, partnerships have been forged between schools and other stakeholders in the
community to improve student achievement.
Business Community and Local Schools
• Provide students with opportunities, such as internships, job shadowing, and project based learning, to help them
make the connection between what they are learning in school and their future educational and career paths
Non-profits, Districts, and Local Schools
• Work with parents to educate them on the importance of postsecondary education, provide support, such as financial
aid training, to raise postsecondary going rates, and better engage them in the education of their students
• Provide students with the extracurricular supports they need, such as out of school time programs, to be ready
to perform in the classroom
• Align non-profit programs with local school district priorities
Philanthropic Community
• Invest in rural communities to help them enhance efforts that have already proven successful
• Aid schools and districts in creating a plan for reform and then serve as a critical partner to continuously
measure success and imbed effective practices into the culture and operation of the district
School Districts
• Form regional partnerships with other school districts to go after philanthropic and federal grants to advance
school reform efforts