The Rural Educational Environment (REE) is a complex mixture of demographic and economic forces that interact to impact the rural school corporation. The condition of REE financial and human capital indicates REE health and may influence student performance on standardized tests. This paper proposes an ecosystem model of the impact of financial, demographic, and school data on school failure or success on standardized tests. Of the 74 rural school corporations in Indiana, 21 were selected that had consistently high or low average scores on the Standardized Achievement Test, Indiana Statewide Test for Educational Progress, and Essential Skills Standards. Among the REE variables examined were socioeconomic status (measured by assisted school lunches), percentage of single-parent families, percentage of persons with less than a high school education, household and per capita income, families and children in poverty, suspension and expulsion rates, special education rates, graduation rates, school levies, assessed value, per pupil expenditures, and number and size of local businesses. Student performance on standardized tests was linked to two aspects of the REE: the carrying capacity (a measure of the quality and quantity of human and financial capital available to sustain school efforts to produce quality graduates) and the buffering capacity (a measure of the REE's ability to sustain the school financially). A threshold value for buffering the effects of combined negative impacts within the REE is proposed, along with a model for predicting scores from REE elements. (SV)