What's New


Rural District's Successful Literacy Program Making a Big Difference

In Mena, Arkansas, students are reading. A lot. Test scores are up significantly. Title I funding makes the district’s comprehensive literacy program possible. But programs like this one could be in jeopardy.


Options for Fixing Title I Inequity: Tying Allocations to Average Local Salaries Makes Matters Worse

The Formula Fairness Campaign is exploring options for ways to fix the Title I formulas. One option is to use a figure calculated by the National Center for Education Statistics to determine how much college-educated non-teachers make in local labor markets around the country. This figure could be used to estimate the cost of providing an education in each school district. But this method would make things worse for most rural districts.
Date: June 25, 2010
Related Categories: Rural Policy Matters, What's New
Related Tags: Formula Fairness Campaign, School Finance/Funding, Title I


State Spending Averages Skew Title I Allocations to Poor Districts

Districts in richer states that support education get a lot more federal money to improve the education of very low-income students than districts in poor states that provide less funding for schools...


The Rural Dropout Problem: An Invisible Achievement Gap

This report reviews high school dropout rates and related factors in rural high schools throughout 15 Southern and Southwestern states. These schools are in districts that are among the 800 rural districts with the highest student poverty rate nationally. Seventy-seven percent of the "Rural 800" districts and 87 percent of the students in them are in these fifteen targeted states.


Foundations Launch i3 Registry

Twelve foundations are launching the Foundation Registry i3, a new online application that aims to simplify the private funding application process for potential grantees and increase access and visibility for new, especially smaller, applicants.


Education Official Visits Rural Schools Partnership Conference

The newly christened Ozarks Teacher Corps is an innovative partnership that will be worth watching to see if it can be replicated in other rural areas, said John White, a U.S. Department of Education leader who attended the annual Rural Schools Partnership conference on May 6, 2010 in Thomasville, Mo.


Rural School Districts Eligible for Federal i3 Grant Application Assistance

Through a new $1.4 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Rural School and Community Trust will address provide customized technical assistance for rural school districts seeking i3 grants.
     For more information regarding technical assistance support through the Kellogg grant, please complete this short questionnaire (MSWord document) and return it via email.


Join the Formula Fairness Campaign

Join the Formula Fairness Campaign to fix what’s wrong about the formula for distributing federal funds for the education of disadvantaged students in public schools.


Find Out How the Title I Number Weighting Option Affects Your School District

The Rural Trust has been reporting on disparities in Title I funding over the past year, filling you in on the reallocation of funds in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Now you can find out exactly how your school district is affected.
Date: February 22, 2010
Related Categories: Funding/Grants/Scholarships, What's New
Related Tags: School Finance/Funding, Title I


Title I Formula Reverses Robin Hood

The biggest victims of “number weighting” in the distribution of Title I funds are high poverty small cities. Title I funds are intended to provide additional federal support to school districts to help meet the needs of students with extra learning challenges, especially challenges related to poverty. But a change to the formula — the number weighting provision — means that many large districts with low rates of student poverty are getting a lot more Title I funding per student that smaller districts with high rates of student poverty…
Date: January 29, 2010
Related Categories: Rural Policy Matters, What's New
Related Tags: No Child Left Behind, School Finance/Funding, Title I


REWG Conference Cancelled for 2010

In light of the Rural Trust's current limited financial resources, we regret to announce that the Rural Education Working Group annual gathering will not be held in 2010.
Date: January 27, 2010
Related Categories: Rural Education Working Group, What's New
Related Tags: Rural Education Working Group (REWG)


Large Very Low Poverty Districts Benefit in Title I Formula at Expense of High Poverty Districts Large and Small

New analysis of the effects of “number-weighting” in the Title I formulas demonstrate that very low poverty large districts are big winners, getting more money per poor student than very high poverty large districts. Smaller very poor districts loseTitle I funding to both high and low poverty large districts - all because of the effects of the formula…


Northern State University Seeking Dean School of Education

South Dakota's Northern State University has posted an employment opportunity for Dean, School of Education.
Date: December 16, 2009
Related Categories: Administrator, Networks/Groups, Teacher, What's New
Related Tags: Employment Opportunities


Why Rural Matters 2009: An Interview with Co-Author and Researcher Jerry Johnson

RPM interviews Why Rural Matters (WRM) co-author Jerry Johnson about his personal perspectives on the findings in this important report.
Date: December 08, 2009
Related Categories: Rural Policy Matters, What's New
Related Tags: All States, Income Related Issues, Title I, Why Rural Matters


Education Week Reports on Why Rural Matters 2009

Education WeekEducation Week features Why Rural Matters 2009 in this October 28, 2009 article. In "Study Urges Regional Focus on Rural Schools," Education Week's Michelle R. Davis talks with Jerry D. Johnson, Rural Trust Policy Research and Analysis Manager, and Rural Trust Policy Director Marty Strange.
Date: November 22, 2009
Related Categories: Media, What's New
Related Tags: Why Rural Matters