Rural education

Abstract

The issues pertaining to public education in rural America must be considered in the context of a perceived national public education crisis. Publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983 symbolized public awareness of this crisis. The study’s title accentuates an enduring American connection between education and the economy. The study emphasized that the nation’s future economic competitiveness was being jeopardized by declining student test scores and rising dropout rates. In response to that assertion, educators, policymakers, business leaders, and others have called for and instigated numerous educational reforms. Most reforms that were proposed and adopted have attributed poor student performance to poor school performance. From this viewpoint, instructional, organizational, and curricular changes within the schools are essential to improvement.