The Bloomsbury Handbook of Rural Education in the United States (Bloomsbury Handbooks)

International Response A Peripheral Perspective: A View from Rural Europe Cath Gristy ## Notes References Index Foreword When we first encountered what passed for rural education research, we didn't like it. The key finding of the time? Rural schools should be more like what the profession had defined as best everywhere else. This position still dominates policy, curriculum, and pedagogy; that is, practice. Everyone should get America's best, everywhere. The position still holds considerable, if weaker, sway over education research, too. So, this handbook astonishes us. Few education leaders harbor any interest at all in the work that concerns it most: interrogating "the best" as it deforms rural places via the schooling conducted there. At least, that's our view of the common work, including our own. Nearing the end of our own research journey, we're pleased that our work facilitates and even encourages the work of others-less for vaunted findings and more for the ideas it engages. And we hope this book and our own work helps still others later on. We encourage readers and researchers to look at the big picture, however, and not to get lost in the weeds. We've now lived long lives in the countryside; our kids attended rural schools. But they were bad students, refusing to take the message to get out and stay out. They're all still here in the countryside with us. We'll find out about the grandkids soon enough. At any rate, by the time we arrived in the countryside in 1973, the early twentieth century struggle to keep kids down on the farm had been lost. The growing metropolitan massing enabled a cultural narrative in which the countryside-rural America-effectively figured as irrelevant. If you live in the countryside and have "ambition," you'd better get out. Want a chance at wealth? Come to the city. Schooling, absolutely futile to resist, reflects that narrative. Public schooling, private schooling, corporately managed schooling may nuance the single cultural narrative, but none of the variants changes plot, characters, or meanings. Education is different from schooling because it's not an institution like schooling (even though the profession and the public confound the two). Education is an idea and a practice that exists largely apart from (mere) schooling. RedCorn and colleagues (Chapter 20) say so, and-much to the educative point-they thankfully also reiterate that place is inherently rural (and notably Indigenous). It's inherently rural because place is centered on the land, and the countryside is where you can usually see the land and live on it and with it. The "inherent" quality of land is overturned by the big business of buying and selling it (Edelman, 2019). Seeing the land and living on it well depend on education that takes place outside the schoolhouse because a metropolitian sort of schooling doesn't care about such things. The issues of importance to the handbook explore the actual and possible connections between rural place (and land and life) and education (and culture and identity). And it explores the connection between all of those things and the organization of schooling under neoliberal capitalist dominion. The issues of importance to the Handbook, and to us personally, moreover, are going to persist. It is up to us to supply some of what gets voiced and to enrich the narrative as best we might. ix ## Foreword The issues of particular concern right now could all benefit from the empirical scrutiny of the scholars in this handbook, their colleagues, their students, and generations beyond. Four issues that we hope will draw sharp attention are: (1) rural places as global sacrifice zones, (2) the land supporting a good way to live, (3) the grounded imaginary, and (4) the rural legacy of genocide and enslavement. ## What are Schools for When Rural Places are Sacrifice Zones? Much of our focus over the years has been on how economic dynamics drive schooling arrangements, educational possibilities, and life chances. The term "sacrifice zone" seems to capture the story of the land in most rural places, illustrated by closed storefronts and other signs of economic loss (Edelman, 2019), or desecrations such as strip mines and hazardous waste dumps (Hedges & Sacco, 2012; Sassen, 2014). We argue, as does Cervone (2017), that closed and consolidated schools also serve as hallmarks of sacrifice. Understanding what's being stolen, degraded, and overrun, as experienced by families and communities, is essential for understanding rural places. Choosing Appalachia as our place for "going back" to the land made it easy for us to see rural place as a sacrifice zone. West Virginia was a mining colony when we arrived almost half a century ago. It was harder to know at that time that the agricultural heartland was also being colonized: subjected to enclosure, depopulation, environmental degradation, and economic exploitation. And the intersection of race and economics seemed, in that era, like an emerging insight about the urban context. There's a lot we didn't see. The elaboration of critical theories refined our analysis and offered depth to our understanding of the political economy of rural places. Our work, in league with the work of Handbook authors, draws on that critical legacy. At the same time, the authors in this volume provide novel interpretations. Theobald (Chapter 2) points out how the intellectual superstructure-Social Darwinist ideas in particular-justified the degradation of rural places and ways of life. Cervone (Chapter 4) offers the poignant contrast between "abstract" spaces and "lived spaces," an idea that simultaneously evokes Marx's view of alienation and the phenomenologists' attentiveness to lived experience. Schafft and Maselli (Chapter 5) provide data to illustrate the complex patterns of boom and bust, depopulation and occasional repopulation, aging, and increasing diversity-all in some ways woven into a broader global fabric of plunder and cynicism. Rural meanings get lost. Just when we are searching for the right word, Tieken (Chapter 6) brings the term, "locally unwanted land uses" to bear on the issue. The mechanics of LULU (what an acronym!) activate the dynamics of domination-starve the population so they will eat anything. But before we are lulled into mere and straightforward indignation, RedCorn and associates (Chapter 20) and Gillon (Chapter 24) remind us that current thievery is built upon a continental lineage of historical land thievery. It feels at once Karmic and hopeless. With Corbett (Section Two, international response), we worry that what lurks in "the precarious and unpredictable politics of the present moment" is not going to be good for rural places or people, neither for the communities that try to sustain tradition nor for those that embrace new diversity (see RedCorn et al., Chapter 20; Coady, Chapter 21). Sure, we get it: Where domination is not complete, there's a kind of Foucauldian hope. x Foreword xiii Foreword can benefit from malleable college experiences and pathways; (15) building partnerships among parents and rural educators who work with young children; (16) ensuring that rural literacy experiences help students appreciate beauty; (17) engaging rural schools and communities in designing trauma-informed systems that are responsive to rural needs; (18) developing contextspecific school mental health programs; (19) monitoring academic opportunity and outcome gaps across rural places and between rural and non-rural places; (20) working in alliance with Native nations to "to decenter colonial and assimilationist approaches to education" (Chapter 20); (21) supporting rural schools' efforts to provide dual-language programs; (22) staffing rural schools with high-quality teachers; (23) establishing and sustaining culturally relevant, antioppressive climates in rural schools; (24) disrupting Whiteness in rural schools and communities; (25) infusing adaptive formats and supports into rural schools to increase their responsiveness to the "lives, values, and proclivities" (Chapter 25) of all students; and (26) cultivating the gifts and talents of rural students on behalf of community development. With this much disparate hope, one might long for a unified field. But that misstep is too often taken. In fact, good intellectual work must cross all sorts of intellectual boundaries. In this light, individual researchers (and not just discipline-hobbled teams) need perspectives and tools from a variety of disciplines. Multi-disciplinary teams lack intellectual depth otherwise. So instead of a unified field, we think solidarity around a set of commitments offers firmer purchase for rural education research. After all, education research is an applied field. We're in this work to accomplish something, even if it's just helping others think better or differently. In what would such solidarity consist? It would consist of commitments rather clearly on view in the foregoing list: (1) rural schools should foster equity instead of greed because the progress of democracy is the progress of equity; (2) rural schools must foster facility with numbers and words, including second languages, and these practices should engage students and educators in local realities; (3) schooling should serve the common good, and rural schools should struggle to enact such good much more visibly for local purposes; (4) education is childrearing into adulthood, and thus rural adulthoods should be clearly in view in rural schools and postsecondary institutions; and (5) education is authentic but schooling is too often phony: rural schools should sponsor more projects, expeditions, inquiries, productions, and performances with students and communities. Such commitments are durable, but they need to be firmly held and upheld by a widening group of educators and community members. Solidarity is required because the worldwide grip of capital on schooling steadily subverts the particulars that educators confront. Working with a rural community's children is wonderful work. Studying that work is an extraordinary privilege. The center of both is the struggle between education and schooling, particularly between the kind of education that cares for the countryside and the kind of schooling that abets theft (of land, of life, of community, of culture, of education, of identity). This handbook may help more education researchers affirm important rural commitments and join the struggle into the much-to-be-contested future. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Illustrations Figures Tables Foreword What are Schools for When Rural Places are Sacrifice Zones? The Land Supports Good Ways to Live The Grounded Rural Imaginary Genocide and Enslavement: A Rural Legacy Missteps Too Often Taken Contributors Introduction: Unsettling Rurality: Mapping a Third Space A Word About Our Process An Invitation Part 1: Introduction: Foundations in Rural Education Chapter 1: Developing, Utilizing, and Critiquing Definitions of “Rural” in Rural Education Research External Quantitative Definitions US Federal Government Definitions and Designations Choosing, Justifying, and Contextualizing Definitions and Designations Theorizing Rurality and Qualitative Definitions A Sociological Lens Complexities and Pitfalls for Rural Researchers Uniquely Rural or Relevant to the Rural? Chapter 2: History and the Shape of Rural Educational Policy in the United States A European Prelude Rural Versus Urban in the Early United States The Free School Era The Pendulum Swings Again Shifting the Goals for Public Education Rural Schools in the Era of “Scientific Management” The Triumph of the Urban Industrial Worldview Conclusion Chapter 3: Toward a Rural Critical Policy Analysis A Coming Era of Educational Change and New Policy Rural Policy Analysis Assumption of Place Neutrality Distributive Analysis Rural Salience Defining Rural Beyond Rural: Rural Critical Policy Analysis Rural Critical Policy Analysis and the Assumption of Neutrality Rural Critical Policy Analysis and Distributive Analysis Rural Critical Policy Analysis and Rural-Focused Policy Policy in an Era of Rapid Change Chapter 4: Corporate Influences on Rural Schools Consequences of Public School Corporatization Rural Corporatization Corporatization of Rural Schools The Effects on Rural Schools The Effects on Rural Students The Need for Critical Rural Education Chapter 5: Shifting Population Dynamics and Implications for Rural Schools Selective Out-migration and Aging in Rural Places Rural America’s Growing Diversity Rural Boomtown Development and Effects on Education and Schooling Rural Communities and Population Change in a Post-Pandemic World Conclusion Chapter 6: Rural Poverty and Rural Schools Background on Rural Poverty Poverty Trends in Rural America Causes of Rural Poverty Racial Oppression Rural Economies Population Changes Isolation, Weak Infrastructure, and Environmental Destruction The Effects of Rural Poverty The Relationship Between Rural Education and Poverty Poverty, Resources, and Achievement Efforts to Address Poverty Through Rural Schools Conclusion Chapter 7: The Why and How of Enhancing Data Use in Rural Education Research and Practice Conceptualizing the Need for Linking Data Schools as an Economic Force Schools as a Social Force Schools as Preparers of Democratic Citizens Schools as Preparers of Workers Building a Multifaceted Data Strategy for Research and Projects Case 1—Linking Schools to Community Economic Vitality Data Challenges Data Tips Takeaways Case 2—Linking Education and Health Care Data Challenges Data Tips Takeaways Case 3—Linking Two State Agencies in Communities Data Challenges Data Tips Takeaways Conclusion International Response: Responding Rurally: Perspectives and Insights from One Rural Place to Another Rurality and Place Neutrality? Rural Place Matters Responding from Where? Rural Standpoint Conclusion Part 2: Introduction: Rural Schools and Communities Chapter 8: Educational Governance and Contemporary Policy in Rural America Section 1: Overview of State Educational Governance Organization in the United States Chief State School Officer (CSSO) State Board of Education State Department of Education (SDOE) Overview of Local-Level Educational Governance Organization in the United States Superintendents Local School Boards Central Office Building Administrators Section Two: Contemporary Education Policies Compensatory Educational Services Standards and Accountability Section Three: Rural-Focused Vignettes The Politics of Rural School Governance Intergovernmental Conflict: The Case of Accountability Mandates in Vermont Declining Enrollment and School District Funding in Rural Wisconsin Conclusion Chapter 9: Consolidation, Closure, and Charter Schools School Closure and Consolidation Financial Implications Academic Outcomes Community and Family Impact Charter Schools What Are Charter Schools? Rural Charter Schools Rural Charter Schools as Resistance to School Closure and Consolidation Chapter 10: Rural School Leadership Rural School Leadership in the Twenty-First Century Who Leads Rural Schools? Leadership Practices in Rural Schools and School Districts Role Complexity, Instructional Leadership, and Opportunities for Leadership Growth Community Relationships, Public Scrutiny, and the Micropolitics of Rural School Leadership Rurality and Leadership Theory Conclusion Chapter 11: Rural Teacher Labor Issues Historically Situated Scholarship Survey Research on Teacher Militancy First-Person Strike Accounts Practical Advice for Educational Leaders Contemporary Scholarship: American and International Existing Rural Teacher Labor Literature and the Nationwide Strike Movement of 2018 A Statewide Case: West Virginia District-Level Cases The 1974 Wisconsin Strike The Mountainville Case Toward a Rural Teacher Labor Research Agenda Chapter 12: Rural School–Community Partnerships: Creating Community-Aware Educational Practices Rural School-Community Partnerships Community-Aware Perspective Illustrations of Community-Aware Partnering The Early Childcare and Education Ecosystem Windmills and Budget Restoration Healthy Kids Have Better Opportunities Conclusion Chapter 13: Collective Impact in Rural Places Collective Impact Cases Grand Isle Network Northeast Prairie Coalition Preconditions for Successful Collaboration Developmental Phases of Collective Impact Work Attending to the Softer Side of Collective Impact Mindset Shifts for Collective Impact Conclusion Chapter 14: Postsecondary Transitions and Attainment Individual Factors Families Rural Schools Rural Communities and Geography Postsecondary Experiences of Rural Youth Postsecondary Persistence and Completion Conclusion International Response: Rural Schools and Communities: We Can Bridge, but Can We Bond? Part 3: Introduction: Curriculum Studies in Rural Schools Chapter 15: Early Childhood Education in Rural Communities Significance of Early Childhood and Early Childhood Programs Early Childhood Development Early Childhood Service Delivery Models Early Childhood Program Quality Rural Communities Strengths of Rural Communities Challenges Confronting Rural Communities and Families Supporting Child Development in Rural Communities: Family Engagement Early Childhood Interventions to Support Family Engagement The Getting Ready Intervention Teachers and Parents as Partners Conclusion Chapter 16: Rural Literacies and Rural Identities Rural Literacies and Identity Rural Literacies and Social Capital Rural Literacies and Social Justice Rural Literacies and Rural Schooling Mobility as a Factor in Rural Literacies Teaching and Research Aesthetics as a Factor in Rural Literacies Teaching and Research Chapter 17: Trauma-Informed Approaches in Rural Education Trauma-Informed Systems Approaches to Reduce Inequality Related to ACEs Childhood Adversity in Rural America What Constitutes Trauma-Informed Care in a Systems Approach? Principles of Trauma-Informed Care Practices Connected to Trauma-Informed Care Centering Rurality in Trauma-Informed Systems Change Efforts: A Case Study Distance and Remoteness Smaller Staff Numbers Serving Small Numbers of Students Dense Social Networks Close, Ambivalent School-Community Relationships Future Directions for Research Chapter 18: Rural School-Based Mental Health: Models of Prevention, Intervention, and Preparation Mental Health Needs in Rural Contexts Barriers to Mental Health Services in Rural Contexts Lack of Availability of Mental Health Providers Difficulties in Accessibility, Accommodation, and Affordability of Mental Health Services Limited Acceptability in Seeking Out Mental Health Services Rural School-Based Mental Health (SBMH) Services Successful Programs and Protocols for Rural SBMH Delivery Prevention Intervention Rural Education for Mental Health Professionals Chapter 19: Student Achievement in Rural America Considerations of Place The Nation’s Report Card Achievement Across Time and Locale Achievement Differences Across Region, Income, and Race/Ethnicity Differences by Region Differences by Income Differences by Race/Ethnicity Conclusion International Response: What Counts as Curriculum? Reviews Without Change National Context Context to Curriculum Part 4: Introduction: Identity and Equity in Rural Schools Chapter 20: Critical Indigenous Perspectives in Rural Education The Visibility of Indigenous Peoples in the Field of Rural Education Indigenous Education in the United States: A Brief Background Visibility of Indigenous Peoples in the Rural Education Literature Introducing Critical Indigenous Perspectives: Centering Land, Sovereignty, and Survivance Deepening the Concept of Place-Based Education: Interrogating Culture and Curriculum Revisiting Durable Issues in Rural Education: A Call to Action, or the Call of Place? Rural Out-Migration Rural Community Viability and Economics Social Reproduction and Interruption Increasing Diversity and Rural Cultural Adaptation Conclusion Chapter 21: English Learners in Rural Schools Vignette Introduction Rural English Learner Students Challenges in Rural EL Education Home Languages and Educational Backgrounds of ELs Preparation of Teachers and Leaders for Rural ELs State-Level Variations in Definitions for ELs Instructional Models and Programs for Rural ELs Funding Strengths and Opportunities for Rural EL Students and Families Chapter 22: African American Education in the Rural South: Then and Now Place, Race, and Educational Opportunity The State of Education in the Mississippi Delta Methods and Data Data Analysis “You Have to Get Your Own at West Tally” Jay—A Cultural Curator Nathan’s Story—Coming Back to Give Back Joi’s Story—An Artist in the Making The Triumphs and Challenges of Home Race—in the School and the Community Implications for Policy and Practice Practice Policy Chapter 23: Latinx Students in Rural Schools Demographics and Rural Latinx Individuals History of Rural Latinxs Migration Demographic Characteristics of Rural Latinxs PK-12 and Postsecondary Education and Latinx Students PK-12 Education, Achievement, and Latinx Students Schooling Experiences Latinx Families, Student Achievement, and School-Family Engagement in PK-12 Education Postsecondary Education Access and Outcomes of Rural Latinx Students Rural Latinx Students and Postsecondary Aspirations and Access Rural Latinx Students and Postsecondary Education Enrollment and Graduation Implications for Practice, Policy, and Future Research Chapter 24: Whiteness in Rural Education Author’s Positionality Defining Whiteness Whiteness in Rural Education Whiteness and Native Mascots Whiteness and High School Athletics Whiteness and Curriculum Disrupting Whiteness in Rural Education Educators and Community Members Curriculum Research Conclusion Chapter 25: Rural Tiered Systems of Adaptive Supports: A Person-in-Context, Place-Based Perspective Diversity in Rural Schools: “There Is No Other Place Like Here” Developmental Systems, Rural Schools, and Tiered Systems of Adaptive Supports Linking Special Education and TSAS Social and Emotional Learning Within TSAS: A Person-Centered, Place-Based Perspective Responsive Professional Development, Consultation, and Research Conclusion Chapter 26: Challenges and Innovative Responses in Rural Gifted Education Disrupting Deficit Notions of Rural Students Barriers to High-Quality Gifted Programming Resistance to Preparing Gifted Students for Nonrural Futures Gifted Education in Varying Rural Contexts Challenges in Providing Services to Rural Gifted Students Constraints of Narrow Definitions of Giftedness Challenges Related to Identifying Gifted Rural Students Challenges Related to Serving Gifted Rural Students Mitigating Challenges in Identifying and Serving Rural Gifted Students Creating Defensible Identification of Rural Gifted Students Serving Rural Gifted Students Conclusion: A Case Study in Rural Gifted Education International Response: A Peripheral Perspective: A View from Rural Europe Notes Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 11 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 24 Chapter 26 References Index Part III: Curriculum Studies in Rural Schools Part III Introduction, Amy Price Azano (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA), Karen Eppley, (Pennsylvania State University, USA) and Catharine Biddle (University of Maine, USA) 15. Early Childhood Education in Rural Communities, Lisa L. Knoche (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA), Hannan K. Kerby (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA) and Susan M. Sheridan (University of Nebraska?Lincoln, USA) 16. Rural Literacies and Rural Identities, Kim Donehower (University of North Dakota, USA) 17. Trauma-Informed Approaches in Rural Education, Catharine Biddle (University of Maine, USA) and Lyn Mikel Brown (Colby College, USA) 18. Rural School-Based Mental Health: Models of Preventions, Intervention, and Preparation, Jayne Downey (Montana State University, USA), Anna Elliot (Montana State University, USA), Rebecca Koltz (Montana State University, USA) and Kristen Murray (University of Montana, USA) 19. Student Achievement in Rural America, Douglas J. Gagnon (Marzano Research, USA) International response by Philip Roberts (University of Canberra, Australia) -- Part IV: Identity and Equity in Rural Schools Part IV Introduction, Amy Price Azano (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA), Karen Eppley, (Pennsylvania State University, USA) and Catharine Biddle (University of Maine, USA) 20. Critical Indigenous Perspectives in the Field of Rural Education, Alex Red Corn (Kansas State University, USA), Jerry D Johnson (Kansas State University, USA), Larry Bergeron (Kansas State University, USA and Jann Hayman (Kansas State University, USA) 21. English Language Learners in Rural Schools, Maria Coady (University of Florida, USA) 22. African American Education in the Rural South: Then and Now, Sheneka Williams (University of Georgia, USA), Sarah MoCollum (University of Georgia, USA) and Kimberly Clarida (University of Texas at Austin, USA) 23. Latinx Students in Rural Schools, Darris Means (University of Pittsburgh, USA) and Vanessa Sansone (University of Texas at San Antonio, USA) 24. Whiteness in Rural Education, Kathleen Gillon (University of Maine, USA) 25. Rural Tiered Systems of Adaptive Supports: A Person-in-Context, Place Based-Perspective , Thomas W. Farmer (University of Pittsburgh, USA), Jill V. Hamm (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA), Ann B. Berry (Plymouth State University, USA) and David L. Lee (Pennsylvania State University, USA) 26. Challenges and Innovative Responses in Rural Gifted Education, Amy Price Azano (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA), Carolyn M. Callahan (University of Virginia, USA) and Rachelle Kuehl International response by Cath Gristy (University of Plymouth, UK) Foreword, Aimee Howley and Craig Howley Introduction , Amy Price Azano, Karen Eppley and Catharine Biddle -- Part I: Foundations in Rural Education Part I Introduction, Amy Price Azano (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA), Karen Eppley, (Pennsylvania State University, USA) and Catharine Biddle (University of Maine, USA) 1. Developing, Utilizing and Critiquing Definitions of ?Rural? in Rural Education Research, Jesse Moon Longhurst (Southern Oregon University, USA) 2. History and the Shape of Rural Educational Policy in the United States, Paul Theobald (University of Southern Indiana, USA) 3. Toward a Rural Critical Policy Analysis, Devon Brenner (Mississippi State University, USA) 4. Corporate Influences on Rural Schools, Jason Cervone (University of Massachusetts, USA) 5. Shifting Population Dynamics and Implications for Rural Schools, Kai Schafft (Pennsylvania State University, USA) and Annie Maselli (Pennsylvania State University, USA) 6. Rural Poverty and Rural Schools, Mara Tieken (Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, USA) 7. The Why and How of Enhancing Data use in Rural Education Research and Practice, John W. Sipple (Cornell University, USA), Peter Fiduccia, (Cornell University, USA) and Kristie LeBeau (Cornell University, USA) International response by Simone White (Queensland University of Technology, Australia) -- Part II: Rural Schools and Communities Part II Introduction, Amy Price Azano (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA), Karen Eppley, (Pennsylvania State University, USA) and Catharine Biddle (University of Maine, USA) 8. Educational Governance and Contemporary Policy in Rural America, Daniella Hall Sutherland (Pennsylvania State University, USA) and Jennifer L. Seelig (The Spencer Foundation, USA) 9. Consolidation, Closure, and Charter Schools, Karen Eppley (Pennsylvania State University, USA) 10. Rural School Leadership, Catharine Biddle (University of Maine, USA) 11. Rural School Labor Issues, Erin McHenry-Sorber (West Virginia University, USA 12 . Rural School-Community Partnerships: Creating Community-Aware Educational Practices , Hope Casto (Skidmore College, USA) and John Sipple (Cornell University, USA) 13. Collective Impact in Rural Place, Sarah Zuckerman (University of Nebraska Lincoln, USA) 14. Postsecondary Transitions and Attainment, Sarah Schmitt-Wilson (Montana State University, USA) and Soo-yong Byun (Pennsylvania State University, USA) International response by Michael Corbett (Acadia University, Canada) 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. "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. 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 look at issues of identity and equity in rural schools by providing an overview of the literature related to diverse populations in rural places, including indigenous populations, African Americans, Latinx communities and exceptional learners. Importantly, this handbook looks beyond the theory of rural education and explores classroom experiences in rural settings. Each section concludes with a response by an international scholar, situating the topics covered within the broader global context"-- Provided by publisher