More than one in four of America's public schools are rural, and nearly one in six of the nation's students are in rural areas. Many children and their families in rural America need better and more equitable educational opportunities. This is the main theme of "Why Rural Matters 2015-16: Understanding the Changing Landscape," the eighth biennial report by the Rural School and Community Trust and its partners on the condition of rural education in the 50 states. This report was released roughly a year after the U.S. Federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the bill that replaces and significantly rewrites the No Child Left Behind Act of the previous decades. The importance of this legislation and the changes it will bring are reflected in a special section. Further, the political context surrounding the 2016 presidential elections once again made clear that issues such as immigration reform, migrant rights, and education funding are "hot button topics." The analyses and data presented in "Why Rural Matters 2015-16" can help to inform policy discussions on these issues as they relate to rural education, as in the case of English language learners (ELL) and early childhood education (ECE) initiatives. This report also includes special analyses of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education as they relate to educating America's rural youth. [This report was produced in partnership with the Institute for Child Success. For the 2013-2014 report, see ED556045.]