How Community Schools Can Reinvigorate Rural Education

A report by the Center for American Progress, published September 2010, explores how full-service community schools can help alleviate some of the unique problems that rural schools face. Community schools are public schools that provide health services and afterschool learning opportunities as well as job training, English classes for language learners and assistance for adults living in poverty.

Rural schools educate nearly 9 million, or about 20 percent of the children in the U.S, according to the report. Almost 40 percent of those students are living in poverty. Rural schools face distinct challenges: rural students are often unable to take advantage of public health and food distribution services due to their geographic isolation, and a school commute can often take more than one hour, limiting students’ participation in afterschool enrichment and extracurricular activities.

The report combines data from interviews, site visits and the experience of The Rural School and Community Trust, a national nonprofit that addresses the relationship between good schools and strong communities. The report finds that full-service community schools offer an excellent alternative to traditional schools that better serve rural communities, even when these rural communities are not economically stressed. The report also discusses the challenges rural areas must negotiate when implementing a community school strategy and offers recommendations for overcoming these challenges. An interactive map depicting state-by-state rural poverty rates is also available.
 

Read the report.