Upload
megan-taylor
View
105
Download
2
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Miles Apart:
Examining Rural and Urban Education Systems
Megan Taylor
Political Science 381 Professor Jenna Bednar
12/16/2015
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
2
Abstract:
How is education reform framed and perceived in contemporary movements of education
reform? This research proposal seeks to question whether contemporary education reform tends
to understand educational reform in a manner that focuses on urban rather than rural education
systems. By identifying critical differences in the challenges that urban and rural schools face,
the importance of tailoring policy to the educational environment is emphasized. This proposal
seeks methods to serve as measurable proxies of an urban bias in education reform. This
proposal intends to collect data on recent educational policy proposals and analyze dominant
initiatives, to examine the flow of funds from federal and state governments to school districts,
and to conduct surveys and interviews with educators, policymakers and members of the public
to explore the manner that greater society tends perceive and understand education reform. The
proposal hypothesizes that the consequence of this potentially problematic framework is that
interests of rural systems may be overlooked in favor of urban systems. The proposal concludes
that education reform would be most effective if specific issues challenging rural systems were
recognized and policies and remedies were tailored accordingly to the diverse educational
environments.
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
3
Miles Apart: Examining Rural and Urban Education Systems
The Link Between Education and Social Mobility:
Education matters. The well-established link between education and social mobility
accentuates the importance of providing all students with the equal opportunity to receive a
quality education. Scholars have long explored the relationship between education, social
mobility, and the perpetuation of generational poverty. Education has been identified as an
indicator of an individuals eventual economic well-being (Weber, Marre, Fisher, Gibbs, and
Cromartie). Furthermore, education has been recognized as an avenue out of the vicious cycle of
poverty. Weber et al. demonstrate in their research that the greater an individual’s educational
attainment, the lower the risk of eventual poverty, stating, “people with more education are less
likely to be poor” (P. 443). They conclude that there is a strong, direct link between education
and one’s subsequent risk of living in poverty. Neelson echoes this conclusion, referencing
education to be an instrument of socialization in which “education reflects the norms and values
of the ruling groups and has essentially the function of confirming and stabilizing existing class
differences” (p. 143). In this understanding, education functions as a tool for the upper classes to
perpetuate the asymmetric power relations between social classes and ensure the continuation of
their dominance. Education is thus an influential institution, which has the power to either
welcome or impede opportunities which may have a significant effect on one’s life trajectory.
Recognizing the powerful potential that education has in determining the course of one’s life has
significant implications.
Educational attainment is a significant indicator of one’s eventual social class standing,
with lower educational attainment as a primary indicator of an individuals’ risk of eventual
poverty. The acknowledged relationship between education, social mobility and the generational
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
4
cycle of poverty underscores the genuine importance of providing a quality education to all
children. Every child is entitled to an equal opportunity to receive a quality education; to
determine their own pathway in life, rather than to be constrained and limited by the arbitrary
social class or physical location that they were born into. Moreover, education has the potential
to function as a tool to lift individuals out of this cycle of poverty.
These points considered, it is thus essential that all students, no matter their race,
ethnicity, socioeconomic status or zip code, have the equal opportunity to receive a quality
education. It is critical that policy makers and educators seek to provide an equal education for
all students. Consequently, it is crucial that the diverse educational environments, and the
specific challenges and realities of these environments, be examined.
Conceptualizing public education through the lens of the physical environment of school
systems has recently been questioned. Does an analysis of the physical environment and
community the school is situated within have benefits to offer to educational research? How
important is it for education policy to consider the effects of the urban or rural environments of
school systems? This proposal argues that in contemporary education, rural and urban schools
face unique challenges that are directly impacted by the effects of the physical community, that
is the effect of the rural or urban climate that the school is located within. Due to the pervasive
influence of physical environment, it is imaginable that rural and urban schools may be
confronted with significantly different issues that may or may not be relevant to the other. Thus,
it is crucial that education research seek to tangibly identify the disparities that may exist
between challenges that rural and urban schools are facing. Moreover, it is essential that the
framework that education policy is situated within be critically examined.
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
5
This research seeks to understand and explore the differences between rural and urban
educational systems. Specifically, this research questions the manner in which contemporary
educational reform is perceived and understood by policymakers, educators and the public. Does
contemporary public educational reform tend to be perceived in a manner that focuses on urban
education systems rather than including rural education systems? This question is essential,
because in order to truly provide an equal, quality education to all students, all educational
systems must be recognized and included in the endeavor towards reform and structural change.
Thus, the realties of both urban and rural schools should be acknowledged and reflected in the
policies and initiatives that have emerged in the fight for educational equity.
The remainder of this proposal will seek to present the critical differences between rural
and urban education systems, including differences in the issues that each system is respectively
challenged with. First, I will provide a foundational definition of the terms, ‘rural’ and ‘urban’, a
contested issue within the dominant literature that I discovered in the literature review. Secondly,
I will establish that a significant difference between rural and urban schools does exist. It will
then follow logically that policies and initiatives targeting education reform should be narrowly
tailored to more effectively affect the specific educational environment. Once I have illustrated
the significant differences between urban and rural systems, I will discuss the significance of
rural spaces, and why rural communities matter. I will then sketch out my proposed methods and
research design, including limitations and specific obstacles I may encounter. Finally, I will
discuss potential results and conclusions, as well as implications if my hypotheses is proven.
Defining the Terms: “Rural” and “Urban”:
The foundational question of this research proposal, that is the influence of the physical
environment on school systems, relies on one fundamental independent variable; the physical
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
6
environment that schools are situated within. All findings and results concerning the differences
between urban and rural school systems rests on the foundational definition of “urban” and
“rural”. If educational policymakers intend to create narrowly-tailored, effective policy it is
essential that this variable be defined with clarity and widespread acceptance so that policy may
specifically address the physical environment of schools. What definition is utilized to categorize
school systems as either “urban” or “rural”?
Due to the immense size of rural America, it has commonly been said that “rural America
defies generalization” (Monk, p. 156). This has complicated policy, and posed challenges to
classifying and differentiating between urban and rural spaces. Historically, the definitions used
to define rural and urban spaces have been ill-defined, vague and inconsistent (Issermen). This
inconsistency and lack of a reliable definition has proven extremely problematic in stabilizing
the dominant understanding of rurality. Beynon, Crawley and Munday reference the elusive and
multi-dimensional nature of rurality and describe the historical dispute that has occurred in
attempts to define rurality (p. 1).Beynon et al. states, “complex patterns that exist in
contemporary human geography lack the presence of one single variable that can ‘capture’ rural-
urban dynamics” (Beynon et al., 2015, p. 5). Echoing this, Weisheit (1999) notes, “Like concepts
such as ‘truth’, ‘beauty’, or ‘justice’; everyone knows the term rural, but no one can define the
term very precisely” (p. 213). The challenge of generating a concrete definition that accurately
encompasses rurality has resulted in a wide range of definitions used in the dominant literature.
In 2006, due to this highly problematic lack of a consistent definition, the National Center
for Educational Statistics (NCES) responded by partnering with the United States Census Bureau
to release a revised, credible set of definitions of school locale types. This classification system
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
7
has since become the standard definition that is relied on in defining ‘rural’ and ‘urban’ spaces
for educational purposes.
The revised definitions rely on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) definitions
of metro spaces and utilize newly improved geocoding technology. The newly released
definitions place emphasis on a communities’ proximity to an urbanized area, and a diminished
reliance on the previous standard that relied on population size and county boundaries.
This emphasis on the proximity of a community to an urban center or cluster as been
classified as an “urban-centric” classification system, which has replaced the previously accepted
“metro-centric” system. The “urban-centric” approach allows for the differentiation between
rural schools in remote areas and school districts that are located just outside of an urban cluster.
This is essential, as “a community might be small but densely settled. The term rural then, might
imply small, but small need not imply rural” (Monk, p. 156). Four categories of locale are
recognized in the revised system: city, suburban, town, and rural. This classification system
allows for the identification of subtypes within the categories, labeled as large, midsize and small
within the “city” and “suburb” categories, and fringe, distant and remote within the “town” and
“rural” categories. This urban-centric classification system will be utilized in this research
proposal to accurately define and identify urban and rural school systems.
The following table, created by the OMB, assigns numerical definitions and differentiates
between the four categories based on proximity to a principle city, urbanized area or urban
cluster. The following table serves to provide data that this research proposal will rely on in
defining and differentiating between rural and urban school systems (NCES Website).
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
8
Exhibit A:
NCES's urban-centric locale categories, released in 20061.
Locale Definition
City
Large Territory inside an urbanized area and inside a principal city with population of 250,000 or more
Midsize Territory inside an urbanized area and inside a principal city with population less than 250,000 and greater than or equal to 100,000
Small Territory inside an urbanized area and inside a principal city with population less than 100,000
Suburb
Large Territory outside a principal city and inside an urbanized area with population of 250,000 or more
Midsize Territory outside a principal city and inside an urbanized area with population less than 250,000 and greater than or equal to 100,000
Small Territory outside a principal city and inside an urbanized area with population less than 100,000
Town
Fringe Territory inside an urban cluster that is less than or equal to 10 miles from an urbanized area
Distant Territory inside an urban cluster that is more than 10 miles and less than or equal to 35 miles from an urbanized area
Remote Territory inside an urban cluster that is more than 35 miles from an urbanized area
Rural
Fringe Census-defined rural territory that is less than or equal to 5 miles from an urbanized area, as well as rural territory that is less than or equal to 2.5 miles from an urban cluster
Distant Census-defined rural territory that is more than 5 miles but less than or equal to 25 miles from an urbanized area, as well as rural territory that is more than 2.5 miles but less than or equal to 10 miles from an urban cluster
Remote Census-defined rural territory that is more than 25 miles from an urbanized area and is also more than 10 miles from an urban cluster
SOURCE: Office of Management and Budget (2000). Standards for Defining Metropolitan and Metropolitan Statistical Areas; Notice. Federal Register (65) No. 249.
1 A principal city is a city that contains the primary population and economic center of a metropolitan statistical area, which, in turn, is defined as one or more contiguous counties that have a "core" area with a large population nucleus and adjacent communities that are highly integrated economically or socially with the core. Urbanized areas and urban clusters are densely settled "cores" of Census-defined blocks with adjacent densely settled surrounding areas. Core areas with populations of 50,000 or more are designated as urbanized areas; those with populations between 2,500 and 50,000 are designated as urban clusters. Rural areas are designated by the Census Bureau as those areas that do not lie inside an urbanized area or urban cluster.
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
9
The Literature Review:
Critical Differences: Rural and Urban Education Systems
Before embarking on the questions this research proposes it is important to have a basic
understanding of the various perspectives that education policy is currently framed through. The
literature collected and discussed here includes both sources that examine the differences
between urban and rural education systems and theoretical sources that question the frameworks
that education systems are currently and have historically been situated within. The goal of this
literature review is to construct an understanding of the current landscape of the dominant
framework that education reform is situated within.
Primarily, the existing literature has established the link between how education is
framed and the resulting policy; showing that the framework of education reform is extremely
influential in how education reform is understood by policymakers and the general public.
However, the majority of prominent theoretical pieces regarding educational reform have failed
to expand their theories to include rural systems. This literature review details the implications of
these theoretical gaps, concluding that further research should seek to produce a more complete
and holistic understanding of the diverse educational environments.
Influence of the Rural Community on the Obstacles Challenging Rural Schools:
There is a variety of existing research which questions the relationship between the
effects of the rural community and the obstacles that challenge rural schools. Collectively, the
sources establish a foundation that identifies specific obstacles which may be more prevalent
within rural systems due to the pervasive effects of the rural environment. Specifically, the
obstacles that the sources identify include: the challenge of hiring and retaining quality teachers,
increased exposure to poverty, increased high school dropout rates, failure to adequately prepare
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
10
for college, lack of college preparatory classes and finally the tension between competing
commitments to the physical location of their community against attaining higher education.
One primary obstacle that is examined is the increased challenge that rural schools face in
hiring and retaining high-quality teachers. Monk illustrates that rural schools face a greater
challenge in attracting qualified teachers due to lower teacher salaries, lack of opportunities for
specialization and other organizational features of rural schools. Monks explains that frequently
in rural schools, teachers tend to be less qualified than their urban counterparts and are more
likely to be teaching a subject that is far removed from their area of training (Pg. 167). These
specific features of rural systems have created, “the revolving-door phenomenon” which
demonstrates the amplified challenge that rural schools face in retaining teachers. (Pg. 164).
Monk concludes that,
“Salaries are lower for teachers in rural schools for many interconnected reasons, and
rural schools struggle to appoint qualified teachers or make do with teachers who have
fewer qualifications and face higher turnover rates. Moreover, teacher experience is more
limited in rural schools – a disturbing finding, given that teacher experience is emerging
as one of the most important predictors of teaching effectiveness” (Pg. 167).
Monk provides a clean analysis that both demonstrates and explains why rural schools struggle
in hiring and retaining high-qualified teachers. Likewise, Gibbs echoes this argument. Gibbs
claims that rural teachers tend to attain a lower level of education and are half as likely to have
attended a highly prestigious university (Pg. 83). Regarding lower teacher salaries, Gibbs cites
that urban salaries are approximately 21% higher for starting teachers, and 35% higher for
teachers who possesses 20+ years of experience or a master’s degree (Pg. 83). Moreover, Gibbs
echoes Monk’s fear, arguing that this discrepancy between rural and urban schools is “troubling,
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
11
given the established links between quality of a teacher’s education and classroom performance”
(Pg. 83). Collectively then, Gibbs and Monk establish and explain why rural schools face an
increased challenge in hiring and retaining qualified teachers.
Two additional obstacles are identified and established by Lichter. Lichter analyzes the
relationship between high school dropouts and rural schools, as a large share of high school
dropouts occur in rural communities (Pg. 54). Lichter claims that rural students experience a
higher rate of exposure to poverty and as a result are more likely to dropout of high school.
Lichter concludes, “Not only are poverty rates among rural children higher than urban children,
but the negative effects of poverty are slightly stronger in rural areas. Poor rural youth are 4.66
more likely than the non-poor to drop out of school” (Pg. 70). Lichter examines the influence
that poverty as over students and finds that living in poverty in early childhood has a strong
detrimental influence on educational goals and attainment. (Pg. 57). Monk supports this finding
as well, reporting, “Among the 250 poorest counties in the United States, 244 are rural, and out
of more than 8 million children attending public schools in rural areas, 2.5 million live in
poverty” (Pg. 156). As poverty rates are significantly higher among rural children, it follows that
the effects of poverty on rural children will strongly impact their education as well. Thus,
creating the unique challenge of increased high school drop out rates in rural schools.
The influence of these specific obstacles discussed above are examined collectively by
Howley. Howley seeks to understand the influence of the rural environment on children’s
educational aspirations, and she ultimately calls for a reordering of the way in which rural
communities are understood. Howley claims that the educational aspirations of students are
directly shaped and limited by rural students’ commitment to the physical location of their
community. Howley highlights the tension that rural students face between the conflicting
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
12
aspirations of physical location and education attainment, because often for rural students,
“moving up in social mobility means moving out of their rural community due to lack of
opportunities” (Pg. 66). Thus, often rural students may choose to forgo opportunities for higher
education in order to remain in their already established rural community (Pg. 66). Howley’s
theory draws attention to ways in which rurality may structure rural children’s dreams, desires
and understanding of the world. This again provides an example of a unique challenge that rural
schools are facing; that is, seeking a way to mediate conflicting commitments by developing
rural communities so that “moving up” does not automatically have to entail “moving out” for
rural students.
In sum, through the work of Gibbs, Monk, Lichter and Howley, several obstacles specific
to rural schools have been identified and established. Primarily, these authors have discussed the
challenge that rural schools face in hiring and retaining high-quality teachers, in increased high-
school drop out rates, in increased exposure to poverty and in conflicting commitments between
education and physical place.
Influence of Theoretical Framework on Education Policy and Conceptualization:
In addition to identifying obstacles that pose unique challenges to rural schools, the
literature successfully establishes that the manner in which education reform is framed is
important and has influential implications for how education reform and research are
conceptualized. A multitude of the sources were questioning and attempting to deconstruct an
existing framework, or were seeking to construct and promote a new theoretical framework.
Historically, the framed understanding of education has shifted with society. The oldest source
examined was written in 1927 by John Wahlquist. In Wahlquist’s piece, Wahlquist criticizes and
deconstructs the then dominant framework which manipulated IQ scores to show that rural
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
13
students were, by heredity, less intelligent than urban students. Wahlquist claims that the
traditional method of analyzing IQ scores was seriously flawed and created false conclusions.
While this research may seem amusing today, (who would ever think rural students to be simply
less genetically intelligent?), this demonstrates how the dominant understanding can frame and
consequently limit education research.
Fast-forward seventy-five years to Silver’s piece, and again the influence of the dominant
framework on education is extremely evident. Silver claims that, “despite the fact that a non-
trivial percent of the school population around the world resides in rural communities, there has
been precious little research on teaching and learning in these places” (Pg. 2). Silver critiques
the dominant theories for failing to include an analysis specific to rural settings and claims that
the research was “not framed in a way which directly related to the rural setting” (Pg. 2). Silver
is not alone in this conclusion, Lichter echoes this belief as well stating, “My interest in rural
youth provides a needed balance to the current tendency to focus on urban (or all) children” (Pg.
54). Here a significant gap within the existing research is identified – to a large extent the
existing dominant research has failed to include rural communities and the specific challenges
that confront rural systems. The consequence of this shortcoming may be that rural students get
left behind, Silver hints at this fear stating, “we are highly unlikely to reach our lofty goals if we
continue to ignore the student population living in rural communities” (Pg. 3). Moreover, when
the realities of rural students are examined specifically, rural students are often depicted in a light
that is not in accordance with their rural values or experiences. Howley criticizes this, arguing,
“rural youth are not allegedly the backwards actors they are depicted to be” (Pg. 76). Education
theorists need to stop assuming that rural communities are simply “backwards”, instead of going
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
14
the extra mile to examine specific features that make rural communities different than their urban
counterparts.
The theoretical pieces by Lubienski, as well as Moolenaar and Daly, are excellent
examples of recent educational theories, which have failed to include rural communities in their
analysis. When searching for sources, I choose to read these pieces because I thought the theories
proposed by each respectively was extremely interesting. I was thus extremely disappointed
when after reading, I realized that these theories had completely failed to include a discussion
which was at all relevant to rural systems. In Lubienski piece, “Celebrating Diversity and
Denying Disparities: A Critical Assessment”, Lubienski explores how the recent dominant
discourse of promoting diversity often serves as a tool to mask the realities of inequalities within
school systems. Essentially, Lubienski is arguing that the dominant framework of diversity has
produced biased conclusions and has consequently constrained education research and hindered
the promotion of equity in educational reform (Pg. 33). Moreover, Lubienski successfully
identifies the necessity of narrowly tailored policy, “without understanding the specific
difficulties undeserved groups of students face in schools, it is much more difficult, if not
impossible to effectively address these difficulties” (Pg. 35). Here, Lubienski comes so close, yet
still fails to specifically expand this theory onto rural students. Consider the potential if
Lubienski had instead asked, how does the discourse of diversity distract from conversations
about inequality of resources that may be occurring between urban and rural schools?
Similarly, Moolenaar and Daly theorize that social networks in schools strongly influence
instructional quality and student outcomes. Moolenaar and Daly conclude that reform
implementation takes place within daily interactions in the classroom, and thus, the student to
student and student to teacher relationships should be highly valued (Pg. 2).
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
15
While the theories of Moolenaar and Daly and Lubienski are important contributions,
they should be expanded to include a specific analysis of how their theories affect rural schools.
The challenge is to push these theories to combine both the research that has already identified
unique challenges facing rural schools and incorporate that into their respective theories. Many
sources have explicitly addressed how the framework of educational issues can limit research,
however, the variability within these frameworks is large and leaves much to be desired.
In conclusion, the dominant literature that examines the influence of physical
environment on school systems has established a strong foundation which identifies how some
obstacles, such as increased exposure to poverty, may have a stronger effect on rural schools, due
to influences from the rural environment. Additionally, the existing literature has established that
the framework of education policy is extremely influential and has a strong impact on how
education is understood by policymakers and the general public.
Nevertheless, there are visible weaknesses and gaps within the existing literature. Due to
the disjunctive nature of the existing theories, the existing literature is calling for a more
comprehensive, holistic research which bridges the gap between simply identifying differences
between rural and urban schools to applying the various theories onto rural schools. Future
research should seek to produce a theory which synthesizes these results. This holistic,
comprehensive theory should empirically demonstrate the various differences between urban and
rural systems and consolidate the existing research to highlight the primary challenges that are
unique to rural systems. This theory should explore the benefits of narrowly-tailored policy and
question if education policy should be more narrowly adapted to the various environments to
more effectively address the differing challenges. Finally, future research should acknowledge
that the existing educational framework is extremely influential but is in need of a dramatic
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
16
update and expansion. There is a need to apply currently existing theories of educational
framework specifically onto rural settings, for example, the theories of Moolenar and Daly, and
Lubienski. With this foundational understanding of the existing dominant research, it is clear that
there is much to be gained in future research by expanding educational theories to include a
discussion of the rural situation.
Statement of Hypotheses:
Having now established that rural and urban education systems are situated in
significantly different realities, and are thus confronted with distinct challenges, the hypotheses
of this proposal will now be presented.
I hypothesize that contemporary public educational reform tends to be perceived in a
manner that focuses on urban education systems rather than including an analysis of rural
education systems. This perception is consequentially problematic, because the emphasis on
urban systems subsequently favors urban interests, at the expense of denying the reality of rural
school systems. Consequently, as a result of of this problematic framework I hypothesize that
rural schools are at risk of falling behind compared with their urban counterparts, which will
sustain the perpetuation of rural and generational poverty.
To provide significance to this hypothesis, I will now present data that speaks to the
importance of rural spaces and rural schools in the landscape of national education.
Why Rural?
In questioning the potential that contemporary movements for educational reform favor
urban education systems and urban interests, the immediate reaction is, so what? Given that there
is simply an immensely greater proportion of students enrolled in urban school systems, is it not
expected that reform movements would focus on the areas where the majority of students attend
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
17
school? At first, this reasoning may seem rational; but, given the established relationship
between education, social mobility and the perpetuation of generational poverty, this line of
reasoning is simply not acceptable. As already discussed, the link between education and the
perpetuation of generational poverty signifies the importance of providing equal access for all
students to receive a quality education. Thus, every student, regardless of their zip code is worthy
of a quality education, which indicates that every students’ interests should be of equal worth and
consideration. Every school district, regardless of their physical location, should be represented
in the fight for educational equity.
Moreover, rural education, while it may not constitute the majority, is not a trivial portion
of the national educational landscape. Rather, rural schools and students are often invisible to
policy makers, due to extremely evident patterns of urban education and the vast geographic
terrain of rural America. This persistent invisibility of rural education presents a challenge in
envisioning the significance of rural education.
Yet, the following national statistics, produced by Johnson et al., demonstrates that rural
education is significant to “the national educational landscape” (p. 16). The following data was
collected by the Rural School and Community Trust Foundation, in their annual “Why Rural
Matters”2 report, in which the foundation assesses the condition of rural education in all fifty
states.
In the National context, nearly 9.7 million students are enrolled in rural school systems,
that is 20%, or one in five students nation-wide, that attend rural schools. Similarly, nationally,
rural schools constitute 33% of public schools. However, this figure varies significantly by state.
For instance, in Massachusetts, only 6.5% of schools are categorized as rural, meanwhile, in
2 All of the following statistics will draw from this source. A complete citation can be found in the bibliography.
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
18
Montana approximately 75.3% of schools are identified as rural. In over fifteen states, over half
of the public schools are rural schools. (Johnson et. al, p. 6-7). Moreover, in an additional fifteen
states, over one-third of public schools are rural schools. This reality that the prevalence of rural
education varies by state again emphasizes how important it is for movements for educational
reform to consider the educational environment, rather than a single, one-size fits all approach.
Additionally, rural schools have increasingly grown more complex in regards to
increasing rates of impoverished and diverse student populations. Regarding the socioeconomic
situation of rural education, 46% of rural students qualify to receive federally subsidized free or
reduced lunch. To be eligible, the students’ family must be at or below 185% of the federal
poverty line (USDA Fact Sheet). This range includes families who are classified as “near poor”,
who although above the poverty line, may still not have the capacity to properly feed their
children (USDA Fact Sheet). This statistic is commonly relied on as an indication of student
poverty, and it shows that “more than 2 in 5 rural students live near or below the poverty line”
(Johnson et. al, p. 16).
Regarding the increasing diversity in rural communities, Johnson et. al notes that 26.7% of rural
students are of minority racial or ethnic identities, signifying that one in four rural students is a
minority student, totaling to 2.6 million rural minority students. Although again, this statistic
varies widely by state, with states such as New Mexico serving a rural minority population as
great as 82.5%.
Finally, it is important to note that the growth rates of rural students have increased in the
past several years. This reported increase in growth rates again speaks to the significance of rural
education to our greater understanding of national education. Johnson et. al concludes, that with
these data points considered, it highlights that it is extremely problematic for policy makers to
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
19
“ignore the challenges faced by rural schools and the students they serve, or what those
challenges mean to state and national goals of improving achievement and narrowing
achievement gaps between advantages and disadvantaged groups” (Johnson et. al, p. 28).
Thus, building on the data provided by Johnson et. al, it is clear that rural education is a
significant feature on the national scale. With these statistics in mind, the importance of the
inclusion of rural school systems into contemporary movements for education reform is again
emphasized. As rural education is a prevalent aspect on the national scale, it is critical that
movements for educational reform value all educational environments, rather than falling prey to
the challenging, invisible nature of rural education.
Methods:
Focusing in now on the proposed hypotheses, that the general perception and
understanding of contemporary education reform may be skewed to favor urban education
systems, I will now describe the proposed methods and approach this proposal will utilize. To
examine the dominant perception of education reform, I will pursue measurable proxies that
would establish an urban bias. Three proposed methods will collectively serve as indicators to
determine the presence of an urban bias. Specifically, this research proposes to conduct surveys,
to examine the flow of money from the state to specific education systems, and to analyze recent
policy proposals and popular initiatives within educational reform. Each method will be detailed
below respectively.
First, this proposal seeks to conduct interviews with educators, both in rural and urban
areas, as well as surveys of the general public in hopes to gage the general perception and
dominant understanding of education reform, both within the field of education and within
greater society. These surveys and interviews will provide a qualitative foundation and serve as a
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
20
framework to explore the general societal perception of education reform, which is essential, as it
has already been established that the dominant perception has a great influence on guiding
proposed policies and initiatives.
Secondly, I will turn to examining the flow of funds, conducting an analysis of both
federal and state funds, to question how the funds are primarily utilized. For instance, if the
funds are used to create new initiatives or programming, and what the targets of those initiatives
and programs are. Given the vast range of expenditure per student, varying by location, this will
allow for an examination of state priorities and serve to distinguish if the disparities in funding
occurs due to state, or local actors. This quantitative and analytical examination will be effective
in providing tangible evidence that will indicate the dominant perception of education reform.
Finally, in hopes of producing a more tangible method to explore the potential of an
urban bias, this research will analyze both recent policy proposals and recent popular initiatives
within education reform. This research proposes to collect and analyze recent policy proposals in
education reform, specifically, to examine the goals of the policy and whom is the target of the
policy. This will include policies that are proposed and supported by dominant organizations and
institutions such as the U.S. Department of Education and the National Education Association
(NEA). Secondly, this research proposes to analyze dominant initiatives that have emerged in the
fight for educational equity; such as Teach for America and City Year. Both Teach for America
and City Year are two popular initiatives that have surfaced with specific goals for education
reform; such as providing high-quality teachers to urban, low-income and high-need school
systems. This analysis will examine the focus of these initiatives, considering their location and
which issues the initiatives target. This application of specific initiatives, similar to the nature of
a case study, will produce a tangible and visible trace of an urban bias.
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
21
Collectively, these methods will aid in the examination of the current, dominant
perception of education reform. Establishing this framework will serve to indicate the presence
of an urban bias, which will ultimately produce implications for the future of education reform.
Anticipated Limitations:
All points considered, it is important to now recognize the potential limitations of this
research design and obstacles which may be encountered. Three explicit challenges are
recognized as potential limitations to this proposed design; that being, a significant lack in
current research which focuses on rural education systems, a challenge in accessing data on
recent policy proposals, and a misunderstanding regarding the goals of the proposal.
First, in addressing the potential misunderstanding, it is possible that their may be a
pushback from those whom advocate for urban spaces, arguing that because urban systems
simply constitute a much greater majority, the presence of an urban bias is in fact not
problematic, but logical. In responding to this, it is necessary to emphasize that the goal of this
proposal is not to argue that rural education systems are more important than urban systems. This
proposal does not wish to devalue, disrespect or undermine the significant and unique challenges
that are facing urban schools. Rather, this proposal simply seeks to demonstrate that all
educational environments should be valued equally and included when exploring the future of
educational reform. Throughout the research process, it will be important to emphasize this to
avoid this misunderstanding.
Regarding the lack of current research, it may be difficult to establish a credible
foundation from which to begin this research, as historically, there as been a significant lack of
educational research on rural education systems. As noted in the literature review, several of the
scholars examined in the literature review note that there has been little research on rural schools
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
22
in comparison to their urban counterparts. (Silver, p. 2; Lichter, p. 54). Silver states, “there are
issues of specific concern to the students, teacher, and schools in rural communities – issues that
are not adequately covered by research that addresses broader topics…it appears that that they
are grossly underrepresented in the research literature” (Silver, p. 3). Moreover, Silver
demonstrates this by referencing the fact that among the four hundred submissions in “The
Journal for Research in Mathematics Education”, not a single submission was focused solely on
rural education (p. 2). This lack of research may pose difficulty in establishing a foundation for
this research, but, it does again signify the importance of this research and the value that is to be
gained by contributing to this problematic gap in the research.
Finally, practically, it may be challenging to receive access to data to analyze recent
policy proposals. The source for analyzing these recent policy proposals has yet to be identified,
and will need to be secured in order to accurately and credibly analyze the recent policy
proposals as this research hopes to do. Furthermore, moving forward, it will be essential to
consistently narrow the scope and select the initiatives to be analyzed carefully.
Despite these potential obstacles and limitations, I am confident that this research design
is strong and has immense potential.
Potential Results and Concluding Discussion:
Having now presented my hypotheses and evidence plan, I will now present the potential
results and the consequent implications of those results. The methods presented above will serve
as indicators of the presence of an urban bias. For instance, if the surveys show that educators
and the general public tend to perceive education reform mainly as an urban issue, this will be a
key indicator of the greater societal perspective and understanding of education reform.
Similarly, if the examination of the flow of moneys from the state to school districts notes a
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
23
disproportionate provision of funds between rural and urban school systems, this would again
indicate the State’s perception of education reform, and the State’s priorities. Finally, the
analysis of policy proposals and popular initiatives, such as Teach for America, will be tangible
indicators of the current landscape of education reform. If it is confirmed that the majority of
recent policy proposals and initiatives were created in hopes of targeting urban systems, this
would again serve to indicate the presence of an urban bias.
If my hypotheses are proven, that an urban bias exists in the manner that education
reform is typically perceived, it would indicate that our understanding of educational reform
needs to be recreated, to create space to understand the specific challenges facing rural education
systems. This hypothetical skewed perception is problematic, as it complicates rural students
access to equal opportunity to receive a quality education. This inequality threatens that rural
schools may begin to fall further behind urban systems; consequentially perpetuating the cycle of
generational poverty and increased poverty levels in rural areas.
These points considered, if the hypotheses are proven correct, it would have significant
implications for the future of education reform and policy making. This result would indicate
that policy proposals and initiatives would be most effective if they were tailored to the specific
environments in which educational issues arise – rather than a one size fits all approach for
public education. This realization should encourage policymakers to educate themselves more on
the rural situation and the specific challenges confronting rural students and school systems.
Fighting against the invisible nature (Johnson et. al) of rural education systems will be a step in
the right direction, to genuinely acknowledge rural school systems rather than continuing to
create and implement policy that in reality, may be irrelevant to rural settings.
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
24
In concluding, it is necessary to reemphasize the importance of considering the
educational environment that schools are respectively situated within. If our nation desires to
provide an equal and quality education to all students, then it is essential that all communities
voices are heard, and that policymakers fight back against the invisible nature of rural education.
Indeed, it will be highly improbable to reach the goal of providing an equal education to all
children if the rural student population continues to be ignored (Silver, p. 3). It is crucial that the
critical differences between rural and urban education systems be examined and acknowledged,
so that policy can be more effectively tailored to the educational environment. Only then, once
we have let go of the convenience of a one-size fits all approach, then, education reform can
begin to reach its true potential, valuing all students – regardless of their zip code.
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
25
Bibliography
Ahmed, Manzoor. "Economic Dimensions of Sustainable Development, the Fight Against Poverty and Educational
Responses." International Review of Education 56.2/3, The Midway Point of the UN Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development: Where Do We Stand? (2010): 235-53. Print.
Beynon, Malcolm J., Andrew Crawley, and Max Munday. "Measuring and Understanding the Differences between
Urban and Rural Areas." Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design (2015) Print.
Brewer, Paul R., and Kimberly Gross. "Values, Framing, and Citizens' Thoughts about Policy Issues: Effects on
Content and Quantity." Political Psychology 26.6 (2005): 929-48. Print.
Collins, Randall. "Functional and Conflict Theories of Educational Stratification." American Sociological
Review 36.6 (1971): 1002-19. Print.
Gibbs, Robert. "The Challenge Ahead for Rural Schools." Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy 15.1
(2000): 82-7. Print.
Howley, Caitlin W. "Remote Possibilities: Rural Children's Educational Aspirations." Peabody Journal of
Education 81.2 (2006): 62-80. Print.
Isserman, Andrew M. "In the National Interest: Defining Rural and Urban Correctly in Research and Public
Policy." International Regional Science Review 28.4 (2005): 465. Print.
Jeffrey L Jordan, Genti Kostandini, and Elton Mykerezi. "Rural and Urban High School Dropout Rates: Are they
Different?" Journal of Research in Rural Education (Online) 27.12 (2012): 1. Print.
Johnson, Jerry, et al. Why Rural Matters 2013-2014: The Condition of Rural Education in 50 States. 7th ed. Rural
School and Community Trust, 2014. Print.
Lichter, Daniel T., Gretchen T. Cornwell, and David J. Eggebeen. "Harvesting Human Capital: Family Structure and
Education among Rural Youth1." Rural Sociology 58.1 (1993): 53-75. Print.
MEGAN TAYLOR POLISCI 381
MILES APART: EXAMINING RURAL AND URBAN EDCUATION SYSTEMS
26
Lubienski, Sarah Theule. "Celebrating Diversity and Denying Disparities: A Critical Assessment." Educational
Researcher 32.8, Theme Issue: Expertise (2003): 30-8. Print.
Moolenaar, Nienke M., and Alan J. Daly. "Social Networks in Education: Exploring the Social Side of the Reform
Equation." American Journal of Education 119.1 (2012): 1-6. Print.
National Center for Educational Statistics. "Rural Education in America: Definitions." 2006.Web. <https://nces-ed-
gov.proxy.lib.umich.edu/surveys/ruraled/definitions.asp>.
Neelsen, John P. "Education and Social Mobility." Comparative Education Review 19.1, Politics/Education (1975):
129-43. Print.
Silver, Edward A. "Attention Deficit Disorder?" Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 34.1 (2003): 2-3.
Print.
United States Department of Agriculture: Food and Nutrition Services. "National School Lunch Program."
9/30/2013 2013.Web. <http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/NSLPFactSheet.pdf>.
Wahlquist, John T. "Intelligence of Rural and Urban Children." The Elementary School Journal 27.9 (1927): 682-4.
Print.
Weber, Bruce, et al. "Education's Effect on Poverty: The Role of Migration." Review of Agricultural Economics 29.3
(2007): 437-45. Print.