Irish children's physical activity (PA) levels are below national guidelines. Schools are an ideal setting to promote PA but it remains challenging. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a step-back approach to Project Spraoi (PS); a facilitator (Energizer) led school-based PA intervention. Each Energizer in year one had 2 contact days per…

This qualitative case study provided insight into the effectiveness of rural school leaders' implementation practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study addressed the need for knowledge regarding school administrators' and educators' perspectives on the practice changes necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative case study aimed…

With just 43% of community college students graduating within six years (Causey et al., 2022b), low graduation rates have been the defining, animating issue for community colleges for over a decade (Cutler & White, 2022). Concurrently, high-impact practices (HIPs) have proven enormously successful in improving student outcomes at higher…

Project ENGAGE was an Education Innovation and Research federal grant awarded to the Osage County Interlocal Cooperative in October of 2017. This study addressed the effect of a combination of literacy and behavioral supports on the academic outcomes of elementary students in rural public schools. The five-year multi-element study included a…

The article describes a promising new, fully virtual, multicomponent professional development intervention to support special education teachers in rural U.S. schools who enter the profession without full state licensure. The intervention seeks to strengthen special educators' self-efficacy in relation to classroom and behavior management, and…

In a rural Georgia school district, the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) framework has been formally implemented and facilitated by system-level coordinators for a 4-year period. As the 2021-2022 school year started, the district began the process of transitioning the leadership of the MTSS process to individual school-level teams and…

Mental illness is an epidemic sweeping the nation and, more specifically, the world of education (Salerno, 2016). According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] (2020b), approximately 4.4 million children 3-17 years old in the United States have been diagnosed with anxiety, and approximately 1.9 million diagnosed with depression.…

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a prevention-oriented multitiered system of support. In this article, we discuss how PBIS implementation might be different for schools in rural settings. We used two subsamples of an extant data set of 11,561 schools in 44 U.S. states reporting on PBIS implementation fidelity during the…

Evidence suggests that implementing School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) with fidelity can reduce behavior problems in schools and, concomitantly, the use of school suspensions. Few studies have explored differences in SWPBIS implementation fidelity and outcomes between rural and urban schools, but research suggests…

Background: The Dogwood Mountain School System (DMSS) faces the challenge of trying to address the apparent drop-off of female student interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and increase female student interest and engagement in STEM. Purpose: The purpose of this action research study was to understand how individual…

To enhance partnerships in two rural schools, our college of education initiated a faculty-in-residence program. A group of faculty members visited two other colleges of education with established faculty-in-residence programs to learn from others and to discern a direction for our own work. Two teacher educators, each at a different partner…

Although rural special educators face many challenges in meeting the needs of students with disabilities, they often report having positive relationships with their students and families. Rural educators have the opportunity to leverage this relationship with families by having parents implement academic interventions with their child at home. The…

Faculty from two universities in Florida and Ohio designed, developed, and implemented programs to work with youth from their respective service regions to support college and career readiness initiatives. Both programs were directed by university faculty and utilized university resources to support K-12 students' career development skills. In…

This demonstration features the collaborative work of a state-funded project matching university-based PBIS trainers with school level implementers in a rural setting. Strategies and lessons learned when implementing PBIS with fidelity during challenging times is shared. The information learned from this regional example highlights the need for…

The purpose of the study was to gain an in-depth perspective of rural special education teachers' experiences and beliefs regarding the characteristics of mentoring programs that will assist beginning special education teachers to remain in rural districts. A basic qualitative design was used in the study. The following research question guided…