New York rural schools and districts have a high percentage of core teaching assignments filled by highly qualified teachers, with only small differences across key factors such as school poverty and school need for improvement. Urban schools--particularly those in New York City--have fewer core assignments filled by highly qualified teachers. This report ascertains the patterns in teaching assignments filled by highly qualified teachers across urban, suburban, and rural districts in New York. It also examines how, in rural districts in New York, the percentage of teaching assignments filled by highly qualified teachers varies by school poverty level, school level, school need for improvement, and subject matter. The purposes of this report are to increase understanding of staffing in rural schools in New York, to inform the state whether rural students have equitable access to highly qualified teachers, and to determine whether efforts are needed to recruit highly qualified teachers to rural areas. Appended are: (1) Data and methodology; (2) Highly qualified teaching assignments across New York, by school level and by subject matter; and (3) Additional data on all New York teaching assignments. (Contains 22 tables, 2 boxes, and 3 notes.) [This report was prepared for the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) by Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands administered by Education Development Center, Inc.]