Demographic Changes in Rural America and the Implications for Special Education Programming: A Descriptive and Comparative Analysis

In this descriptive and comparative study, we present results highlighting the complexity and scope of the challenges facing rural districts as they navigate the changing demographics of the students and families they serve. Rapid increases in the number and concentration of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse students in rural areas may have significant implications for teaching and learning. In the face of these changes, rural districts may lack the financial, human, and logistical resources to meet these increasing demands. Viewed within the context of the salient literatures and attentive to the dynamics of organizational change, the results support recommendations for a variety of school- and district-based strategies and send a clear message to policymakers, educators, and others concerned with the education of rural youth, rural families, and rural communities: the need is real and growing in intensity, and there is a role and responsibility for all stakeholders to play.

Download Full-text

Green Thumb Educating

Evidence-Based Approaches to Becoming a Culturally Responsive Educator - Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-8867-2.ch004 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 81-112

Keyword(s):

Learning Process ◽

Sense Of Belonging ◽

Culturally Responsive ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Linguistically Diverse ◽

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse ◽

High Expectations ◽

Linguistically Diverse Students ◽

Meaningful Relationships ◽

Esl Learners

In this chapter, the author presents the metaphor Green Thumb Educating to describe a culturally responsive approach common amongst culturally responsive educators in literature. Through this culturally responsive approach, students are empowered and held to high expectations and supported through rigorous academic obstacles. The author demonstrates how educators' beliefs about developing positive and meaningful rapport with children shapes their culturally responsive approach. The author makes the case that culturally responsive educators, also known as Green Thumb Educators, approach the teaching and learning process by first prioritizing the development of meaningful relationships with students. Culturally responsive educators approach culturally and linguistically diverse students like ESL learners by creating a sense of belonging in their classroom through the development of meaningful relationships.

Download Full-text

Technology Shaping Education in Rural Communities

Handbook of Research on Human Development in the Digital Age - Advances in Human and Social Aspects of Technology ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-2838-8.ch009 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 184-204

Author(s):

Jillian R. Powers ◽

Ann T. Musgrove ◽

Jessica A. Lowe

Keyword(s):

Rural Communities ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Rural Teachers ◽

Post Secondary ◽

Face To Face ◽

Grade Levels ◽

Teachers And Students ◽

Impact Of Technology ◽

The Impact

This chapter examines how technology has shaped the teaching and learning process for individuals residing in rural areas. Research on the history and unique needs of rural communities and the impact of technology in these areas is discussed. Educational experiences of students across all grade levels, from early childhood though post-secondary education, is examined. Examples of innovative and creative uses educational technologies in distance and face-to-face settings are described from the perspective of rural teachers and students.

Download Full-text

LITERACIES AMONG YOUTH FROM CAMPO (RURAL) COMMUNITIES: WHAT IS REVEALED DURING VIDEO PRODUCTION

Trabalhos em Linguística Aplicada ◽

10.1590/010318135871115912020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 151-172

Author(s):

Maria Zélia Versiani Machado ◽

Gilcinei Teodoro Carvalho ◽

Carlos Augusto Novais ◽

Ana Paula da Silva Rodrigues

Keyword(s):

Rural Communities ◽

Urban Youth ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Literacy Practices ◽

Rural Youth ◽

Social Practices ◽

Video Production ◽

New Literacy ◽

Daily Lives ◽

Reading And Writing

ABSTRACT This article presents the results of the research study, “Literacies in rural communities: social practices of reading and writing in school and non-school situations”, conducted from 2015 to 2017. This study investigated how forms of sociability and communicative circuits in the daily lives of the rural youth constitute social practices of reading and writing. Initially, the use of the word “literacies” in the plural is justified. The context for this research is the Araçuaí Family Agroecological School in Vale do Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Analyses are based in the New Literacy Studies (STREET, 2014) and the methodology assumes a qualitative approach from an ethnographic perspective (HEATH; STREET, 2008) in which students collaborated in the production of videos with themes related to their communities. Video production was adopted as a methodological strategy to achieve literacies involved in the collective actions of the process. The results show that the use/non-use of digital technologies does not stand as a factor of differentiation between rural youth and urban youth, definitively breaking with the idea that rural communities are social spaces that lack literacy practices or that are disconnected from the virtual world, which shows that schools should broaden their concepts of literacy, not only by pluralizing practices, but mainly by incorporating them as a constitutive element of their teaching and learning project.

Download Full-text

Health Challenges for Rural Families

Handbook of Research on Leadership and Advocacy for Children and Families in Rural Poverty - Advances in Human Services and Public Health ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-2787-0.ch001 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-22

Author(s):

H. Daniel Xu

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Health Policy ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Rural Health ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Rural Families ◽

Policy Decision ◽

Health Condition ◽

Health Policy Decision ◽

Policies And Programs

This chapter discusses the key health challenges faced by rural families, the major national policies and programs for rural health, and the process and political context of policymaking for rural health. It first provides an overview of the health condition in rural areas and health disparities as well as their linkage to poverty in rural communities, followed by an overview of the existing government health policies and programs for rural areas and a critical analysis of the federalist system in health policymaking. Then it offers a brief overview of the American federalism and major decision-making models for health policy and discusses their application to health policy decision-making in the United States. The last part concludes by providing policy recommendations for addressing health challenges for rural families and children. It is hoped that this chapter will help professionals in social, health, and human services understand the complexity of addressing health challenges faced by many rural families and children through policy and program interventions.

Download Full-text

Health Challenges for Rural Families

Research Anthology on Public Health Services, Policies, and Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-8960-1.ch031 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 673-694

Author(s):

H. Daniel Xu

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Health Policy ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Rural Health ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Rural Families ◽

Policy Decision ◽

Health Condition ◽

Health Policy Decision ◽

Policies And Programs

Download Full-text

Exploring Experienced Teachers’ Constructions of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students in an Online Class

International Journal of Multicultural Education ◽

10.18251/ijme.v20i2.1586 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 58

Author(s):

Amber N. Warren

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

English Learners ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Linguistically Diverse ◽

Online Discussions ◽

Experienced Teachers ◽

Culturally And Linguistically Diverse ◽

Teaching English ◽

Linguistically Diverse Students ◽

Education Class

This article examines online discussions during a teacher education class for experienced teachers seeking licensure in teaching English learners. It seeks to understand experienced teachers’ constructions of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. Using discourse analysis to emphasize talk as situated and action-oriented, the article indicates how belief claims expressed during experienced teachers’ online discussions construct specific versions of what it means to be a CLD student. Findings further suggest that participants managed their authority to speak about students’ needs in patterned ways. These findings have implications for teaching and learning, particularly for the preparation of experienced teachers.

Download Full-text

The revitalization of “Osekkai”: How the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of Japanese voluntary social work

Qualitative Social Work ◽

10.1177/1473325020973343 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 147332502097334

Author(s):

Ryuichi Ohta ◽

Akiko Yata

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Rural Communities ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Social Connections ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Social Connection ◽

Sources Of Information ◽

Rural People ◽

Japanese Word ◽

The Face

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused worldwide panic, and rural areas are no exception. In Japanese rural areas, many older people live alone and lack access to reliable sources of information. During the pandemic, older adults were initially isolated from their communities because of the recommended social isolation measures, even when there were no cases in rural communities. However, various formal and informal caregivers went beyond their usual roles and tried to reconnect the older rural population with their communities and nurtured their social connections; Japanese community workers mitigated the stress and fear experienced by the rural elderly in the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, this pandemic encouraged rural Japanese customs. One such custom is “Osekkai.” The Japanese word Osekkai describes actions that someone considers useful and meaningful to perform for others. Osekkai involves both formal and informal care, and as social gatherings began to disappear, Osekkai allowed individuals to deal with the various social problems created by the pandemic. Conferences based on Osekkai can strengthen rural people’s connections and improve their social capital. Activities of rural people that are constructed through Osekkai conferences are not only evidence-based but also based on reliance. This unprecedented pandemic has taught us not only the importance of usual healthcare and precautions against infection but also that nurturing social connection in communities is crucial in the face of social turbulence.

Download Full-text

The Future of Rurality: Place Attachment among Young Inhabitants of Two Rural Communities of Mediterranean Central Chile

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su14010546 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 546

Author(s):

Paulina Rodríguez-Díaz ◽

Rocío Almuna ◽

Carla Marchant ◽

Sally Heinz ◽

Roxana Lebuy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rural Communities ◽

Young People ◽

Rural Community ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Place Attachment ◽

Rural Livelihoods ◽

Rural Youth ◽

Central Chile ◽

Agricultural Communities ◽

Connectedness To Nature

Rural livelihoods are under threat, not only from climate change and soil erosion but also because young people in rural areas are increasingly moving to urbanized areas, seeking employment and education opportunities. In the Valparaiso region of Chile, megadrought, soil degradation, and industrialization are driving young people to leave agricultural and livestock activities. In this study, our main objective was to identify the factors influencing young people living in two rural agricultural communities (Valle Hermoso and La Vega). We conducted 90 online surveys of young people aged 13–24 to evaluate their interest in living in the countryside (ILC). We assessed the effect of community satisfaction, connectedness to nature, and social valuation of rural livelihoods on the ILC. The results show that young people were more likely to stay living in the countryside when they felt satisfied and safe in their community, felt a connection with nature, and were surrounded by people who enjoyed the countryside. These results highlight the relevance of promoting place attachment and the feeling of belonging within the rural community. Chilean rural management and local policies need to focus on rural youth and highlight the opportunities that the countryside provides for them.

Download Full-text

Victimization and Resilience: Experiences of Rural LGBTQ+ Youth Across Multiple Contexts

Journal of Interpersonal Violence ◽

10.1177/08862605211043574 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 088626052110435

Author(s):

Traci L. Wike ◽

Leah M. Bouchard ◽

Aaron Kemmerer ◽

Mauricio P. Yabar

Keyword(s):

Rural Communities ◽

Young People ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Interpersonal Violence ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Rural Youth ◽

Social Contexts ◽

Lgbtq Youth ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Identity Based

LGBTQ+ youth experience higher rates of interpersonal violence, such as peer-based bullying and identity-based harassment, than their counterparts. Experiences of victimization can occur across different social contexts including family, school, peers, and community. LGBTQ+ youth in rural communities may be at increased risk for identity-based victimization due in part to geographic isolation and an often conservative value system that may create a hostile environment to LGBTQ+ individuals. However, few studies have examined the experiences of rural LGBTQ+ youth from their perspectives, and how the rural context may affect their experiences with victimization and social support. This qualitative study explores the victimization experiences of rural LGBTQ+ youth, the supports available to them, and ways they show resilience. We conducted qualitative interviews with a sample of 11 young people ages 12-21, recruited in partnership with a local LGBTQ+ agency across a rural five county region in the Southeastern United States. Four themes emerged related to how rural youth navigate bullying, harassment, and victimization across different social contexts and the support that is available to them: (1) conflicting family messages, (2) navigating personal safety at school, (3) connecting through technology, and (4) confronting negative religious sentiment. A fifth theme captures the strengths of young people in the mid of victimization: (5) demonstrating individual and collective resilience. Although rural LGBTQ+ youth experience victimization in similar ways to urban and suburban youth, rural youth may have less access to social supports that buffer effects of victimization. This study highlights the strengths in rural LGBTQ+ young people as well as their commitment to supporting one another and seeing change in their communities. Findings illustrate a need for greater support for LGBTQ+ youth in rural areas while leveraging existing strength of the youth and their community for sustainable support and resources.

Download Full-text

The Spread of Youth Gangs into Rural Areas: A Survey of School Counselors

Rural Special Education Quarterly ◽

10.1177/875687059601500404 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 18-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Paul Caldarella ◽

Jim Sharpnack ◽

Travis Loosli ◽

Kenneth W. Merrell

Keyword(s):

Rural Communities ◽

Inner City ◽

School Counselors ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Rural Youth ◽

Rural School ◽

Current Level ◽

Youth Gangs ◽

Crime Problem ◽

Level Of Activity

Although the study of inner city youth gangs has received substantial attention in the literature, such is not the case for rural youth gangs. In this study 41 rural school counselors from eight western states were surveyed on their perceptions of the extent of gang and crime problems in their schools and communities. The results of this study suggest an emerging gang and crime problem in these rural communities, for which the majority of school counselors felt ill prepared. More research and intervention is encouraged, both as a means of alleviating the current level of activity, as well as to help prevent the further spread of gang problems into these rural areas.

Download Full-text