"A collection of essays examining the various social, cultural, and economic intersections of rural place and global space, as viewed through the lens of education. Explores practices that offer both problems and possibilities for the future of rural schools and communities, in the United States and abroad"--Provided by publisher.

Rural people and communities continue to play important social, economic and environmental roles at a time in which societies are rapidly urbanizing, and the identities of local places are increasingly subsumed by flows of people, information and economic activity across global spaces. However, while the organization of rural life has been fundamentally transformed by institutional and social changes that have occurred since the mid-twentieth century, rural people and communities have proved resilient in the face of these transformations. This book examines the causes and consequences of major social and economic changes affecting rural communities and populations during the first decades of the twenty-first century, and explores policies developed to ameliorate problems or enhance opportunities. Primarily focused on the U.S. context, while also providing international comparative discussion, the book is organized into five sections each of which explores both socio-demographic and political economic aspects of rural transformation. It features an accessible and up-to-date blend of theory and empirical analysis, with each chapter's discussion grounded in real-life situations through the use of empirical case-study materials. Rural People and Communities in the 21st Century is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in rural sociology, community sociology, rural and/or population geography, community development, and population studies.

This handbook begins with a foundational overview of rural education, examining the ways in which definitions, histories, policies, and demographic changes influence rural schools. This foundational approach includes how corporatization, population changes, poverty, and the role of data affect everyday learning in rural schools. In following sections, the contributors consider how school closures, charter schools, and district governance influence decision making in rural schooling, while also examining the influence of these structures on higher education attainment, rural school partnerships, and school leadership. They explore curriculum studies in rural education, including place-based and trauma-informed pedagogies, rural literacies, rural stereotype threat, and achievement. Finally, they engage with issues of identity and equity in rural schools by providing an overview of the literature related to diverse populations in rural places, including Indigenous, Black, and Latinx communities, and exceptional learners. Importantly, this handbook applies theoretical tools to rural classroom experiences, demonstrating the potential of work centered at the intersection of theory, rurality, and classroom practice. Each section concludes with a response by an international scholar, situating the topics covered within the broader global context.

The twentieth century was one of profound transformation in rural America. Demographic shifts and economic restructuring have conspired to alter dramatically the lives of rural people and their communities. Challenges for Rural America in the Twenty-First Century defines these changes and interprets their implications for the future of rural America. The volume follows in the tradition of "decennial volumes" co-edited by presidents of the Rural Sociological Society and published in the Society's Rural Studies Series. Essays have been specially commissioned to examine key aspects of public policy relevant to rural America in the new century. Contributors include:Lionel Beaulieu, Alessandro Bonnano, David Brown, Ralph Brown, Frederick Buttel, Ted Bradshaw, Douglas Constance, Steve Daniels, Lynn England, William Falk, Cornelia Flora, Jan Flora, Glenn Fuguitt, Nina Glasgow, Leland Glenna, Angela Gonzales, Gary Green, Rosalind Harris, Tom Hirschl, Douglas Jackson-Smith, Leif Jensen, Ken Johnson, Richard Krannich, Daniel Lichter, Linda Lobao, Al Luloff, Tom Lyson, Kate MacTavish, David McGranahan, Diane McLaughlin, Philip McMichael, Lois Wright Morton, Domenico Parisi, Peggy Petrzelka, Kenneth Pigg, Rogelio Saenz, Sonya Salamon, Jeff Sharp, Curtis Stofferahn, Louis Swanson, Ann Tickameyer, Leanne Tigges, Cruz Torres, Mildred Warner, Ronald Wimberley, Dreamal Worthen, and Julie Zimmerman.

This state-of-the art research Handbook provides a comprehensive, coherent, current synthesis of the empirical and theoretical research concerning teaching and learning in science and lays down a foundation upon which future research can be built. The contributors, all leading experts in their research areas, represent the international and gender diversity that exists in the science education research community. As a whole, the Handbook of Research on Science Education demonstrates that science education is alive and well and illustrates its vitality. It is an essential resource for the entire science education community, including veteran and emerging researchers, university faculty, graduate students, practitioners in the schools, and science education professionals outside of universities. The National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) endorses the Handbook of Research on Science Education as an important and valuable synthesis of the current knowledge in the field of science education by leading individuals in the field. For more information on NARST, please visit: http://www.narst.org/.

This book brings together authors from United States, South Africa, United Kingdom, China, Canada and Australia to provide insights and case studies from across a range of contexts to explore the interplay between the notions of rurality, innovation and education. The book reveals a hopeful and resilient approach to innovative rural education and scholarship collectively and provides important evidence to speak against an often deficit view of rural education. Three patterns are revealed, namely: the importance of place-attentive strategies, the importance of joined up alliances to maximise resources and networks and finally, the need to utilize alternative methodologies and frameworks that have a starting point of difference rather than deficit for any rural initiative or approach. By drawing from international examples and responding in innovative ways to rural education challenges, this book provides an opportunity to share international insights into innovations, interventions and partnerships that promote and support rural education in its broadest sense.

Doing Educational Research in Rural Settings is a much-needed guide for educational researchers whose research interests are located outside metropolitan areas in places that are generically considered to be rural. This book is both timely and important as it takes up the key question of how to conduct educational research within and for rural communities. It explores the impact of educational research in such contexts in terms of the lasting good of research and also those being researched. The authorship is international, which brings together researchers experienced in conducting educational inquiry in rural places from across European, Australian, American, and Canadian contexts, allowing readers insight into national and regional challenges. It also draws on the research experiences and methodological challenges faced by senior figures in the field of rural educational research, as well as those in their early careers. Key topics include: Working with and within the rural; The impact of educational globalisation and the problematisation of cultural difference in social research; Researcher subjectivities; The position of education research in rural contexts; The usefulness of research Reciprocity and converging interest; Ethics and confidentiality. This book is uniquely written with an eye to practicality and applicability, and will be an engaging guide for higher degree and doctoral students seeking to gain a stronger understanding of educational research in rural settings.

Why Rural Schools Matter

Following on from the preceding volume in this series that focused on innovation and implementation in the context of school-university-community collaborations in rural places, this volume explores the positive impact of such collaborations in rural places, focusing specifically on the change agency of such collaborations. The relentless demand of urban places in general for the food and resources (e.g., mineral and energy resources) originating in rural places tends to overshadow the impact of the inevitable changes wrought by increasing efficiency in the supply chain. Youth brought-up in rural places tend to gravitate to urban places for higher education and employment, social interaction and cultural affordances, and only some of them return to enrich their places of origin. On one hand, the outcome of the arguable predominance of more populated areas in the national consciousness has been described as “urbanormativity”—a sense that what happens in urban areas is the norm. By implication, rural areas strive to approach the norm. On the other hand, a mythology of rural places as repositories of traditional values, while flattering, fails to take into account the inherent complexities of the rural context. The chapters in this volume are grouped into four parts—the first three of which explore, in turn, collaborations that target instructional leadership, increase opportunities for underserved people, and target wicked problems. The fourth part consists of four chapters that showcase international perspectives on school-university-community collaborations between countries (Australia and the United States), within China, within Africa, and within Australia. The overwhelming sense of the chapters in this volume is that the most compelling evidence of impact of school-university community collaborations in rural places emanates from collaborations brokered by schools-communities to which universities bring pertinent resources.

This book contributes to 1995 policymaking by offering information concerning an array of issues fundamentally important to the U.S. agricultural and food sector. It reviews a set of policy approaches for dealing with these issues, and assesses trade-offs among these alternative approaches.