The COVID-19 pandemic has shown a light on structural problems in education. Changing conditions, policy recommendations, and pressure from local communities have caused strain among educators and administrators across the nation. For rural districts already strained by shortages of teachers and administrators, the pandemic particularly raised…

This qualitative multiple case study is a follow-up to a study completed in 2007 that examined characteristics of rural school districts experiencing a high rate of superintendent turnover. The original study design incorporated extensive interviews with participants across four rural school districts; triangulating interview results with…

Recent literature on rural education offers many research possibilities because it contains conflicting and contradictory statements on social class, student attitude, innovative teaching, teacher turnover, and school-community relations, many of which are the result of empirical research. (CM)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the factors that influenced a principal's decision to leave his or her rural school. Six principals who left their rural Minnesota schools within the previous year were interviewed to determine the perceived factors that led to their departure decisions. Factors were grouped into personal,…

For many small rural school districts across America, the effort to attract and retain quality teachers continues to be a major concern. Schools located in what are considered to be "hard to staff" areas experience the most difficult. While not all communities face the problems of inadequate teacher supply, many small and rural school…

Examination of superintendent turnover rates in Nebraska's K-12 and high school-only districts during a 10-year period revealed that average tenure for a school superintendent was almost a year less than the national average and that average tenures in both the largest and smallest school districts were shorter than national and Nebraska averages.…

Compares and contrasts first year teaching experiences of a grandmother (1919) and granddaughter (1980) in small, isolated, rural New Mexico schools. Offers suggestions for improving recruitment and retention of rural teachers in areas of salary, housing conditions, school philosophy and morale, student population, and community life. (NEC)