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. This overview describes NCRERN's mission of expanding the use of evidence-based decision-making in rural education and the four types of activities contributing to that mission: a rural research network, overall evaluation of impact of participation in the rural research network, replication evaluations, and supplemental studies.