In the Spring of 2019, the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University launched the National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) with funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. NCRERN was founded to expand the use of evidence-based decision-making in rural education. NCRERN partners with networks of rural school districts to generate and evaluate strategies for improving student outcomes. NCRERN's rural research network originally included 50 rural school districts across New York and Ohio. This model is grounded in supporting partner districts through a continuous improvement process to pilot and test interventions within three different focus areas: attendance (2020-21 and 2021-22 school years), postsecondary readiness (2021-22 and 2022-23 school years), and postsecondary entry (2022-23 school year). This brief is the first in a series describing NCRERN's work with its New York and Ohio rural research network. Subsequent briefs will describe how NCRERN guided partners districts through each stage of the continuous improvement process, "Understanding the Challenge," "Identifying Potential Solutions," and "Testing the Impact of Interventions," in each of the three focus areas. When applicable, the series will include "How-To Guides" for interventions found to be effective.