Arizona School Using Culture and Innovative Math Project to Boost Student Success

As part of RPM's spotlight on rural education innovations, we feature STAR School in Arizona, where achievement in soaring, thanks to the school's emphasis on cultural appropriateness and its unique early childhood math program.

Rural School Innovation Webinar: Parents as Teachers

The featured innovation of this Rural School Innovations Series Webinar from June 2012 was Parents as Teachers, and focused on the i3 "Improving Educational Outcomes for American Indian Children" project, named BabyFACE.

Reminder: Don't Miss Upcoming Rural School Innovation Webinar!

The fifth in a series of webinars sponsored by The Rural School and Community Trust is June 13 and there is no cost for registration.

Alaska Rural Districts' Case Decided

After more than a decade, the Alaska legislature has implemented a funding formula that provides facilities funding for rural districts at levels equitable to urban districts.

Promise Neighborhoods Grant Applications Due Sept. 6

Applications are available for phase two of the Promise Neighborhoods program. The program will again have Absolute Priorities for serving rural and tribal communities.

Alaska Ballot Initiative on School Funding Successful

Voters approve a bond initiative that will build several new rural schools…

Indian Education Policies in Five States

American Indian and Native Alaskan students make up a significant proportion of total students in some states and in those states they tend to be disproportionately enrolled in schools located in rural areas. Federal and state responses to the educational needs of Indian students have historically ranged from the disastrous to the indifferent or ineffective. Largely in response to efforts of Indian communities and activists some states have begun to enact policies and implement approaches that are more positively geared to Indian students.

A recent report from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory identified 13 Indian education policies in five northwest region states. These policies provide some insight into ways schools and districts can do a better of job of teaching American Indian students and a better job of teaching non-Native students about American Indian history, culture, and language.

Give Every Child More than the Best Seat in the House (Chamber)

Rural Trust President Rachel Tompkins helps put the letter of a South Carolina teen in national perspective...

A New School Funding Formula Proposed in New Mexico

A new funding formula that was produced by a legislatively funded study committee and its consultants would increase overall state aid by over 15%, according to a Rural School and Community Trust analysis...

New Mexico Adopts Navajo Language Textbook

Many New Mexico students will learn Navajo at school...

Indian Education

Only about 1.3 percent of U.S. public school children are American Indians, but these 624,000 students are significant parts of the student population in Alaska (26%), Oklahoma (18%), Montana (11%), New Mexico (11%) and South Dakota (11%).

New Mexico Devises Strong Funding Formula: An Analysis

New Mexico Devises Strong Funding Formula: An Analysis

A New Mexico school funding formula that was produced by a legislatively funded study committee and its consultants would increase overall state aid to schools by over 15% and, according to a new Rural School and Community Trust analysis, send the biggest increases to smaller districts serving the poorest, most rural, communities, those with large percentages of Hispanic and Native American students, and those with high proportions of English Language Learners...

The Star with My Name: The Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative and the Impact of Place-Based Education on Native Student Achievement

This white paper from the Rural Trust's capacity building program shows how place-based learning has led to favorable academic outcomes for students in rural Alaska. "The Star With My Name" recounts the methods and successes of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative using place-based learning with Alaska Native students in the state's small rural schools.

Engaged Institutions: Impacting Vulnerable Youth Through Place-Based Learning

With funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Rural Trust sponsored several researchers to develop case studies examining the connections between higher education institutions and vulnerable youth in communities that have chosen place-based education as a framework for student learning and community growth. The report explores the development of rural Education Renewal Zones in Missouri, an aquaculture project in northeastern Maine that is helping revitalize a small town's fishing economy, and a project in New Mexico focused on water use and conservation through using an "acequia" irrigation system. Engaged Institutions also features in-depth studies on other place-based learning partnerships including initiatives to preserve Navajo culture in Indian schools in Arizona, unique media arts projects in Appalachia, and a project aimed at improving writing skills using local culture in the Mississippi Delta.