Evolving over time, Extension has expanded its programming to meet diverse needs across the nation. In Georgia, UGA Extension operates in all 159 counties, where agents and specialists collaborate to address community needs. Extension plays a unique role in building relationships, conducting needs assessments, and contributing to the development…

Understanding the rural intentions of medical students has the potential to improve the effective allocation of rural clinical placements, the demand for which regularly exceeds availability. Longitudinal studies on students' rural intentions have been published but a refined understanding of the spectrum of intentions is absent in the literature.…

Effective use of classroom management practices is critical to creating positive classroom climates supporting students' academic and behavioral outcomes, and teachers in rural areas have a strong need for training in classroom management. One classroom management practice with significant support is behavior-specific praise (BSP). Research shows…

Can families in low-income contexts "pull themselves up by their bootstraps?" In rural Gambia, caregivers with high aspirations for their children, measured before the child starts school, invest substantially more in their children's education. Despite this, essentially no children are literate or numerate three years later. In…

To understand the social experiences of rural teachers recruited by cohort-based alternative pathway programs in the United States, I interviewed 17 rural teachers recruited by Teach For America (TFA). While many new rural teachers experience social isolation early in their careers when teaching in communities in which they did not grow up, these…

This paper examines the potential of outdoor learning for supporting children's understanding of and attitude towards history. A class of primary school children participated in an intensive experiential, residential history programme. A range of data was collected before, during and after the residential programme, and the findings suggest that…

In this program description, we examined the impact of East Carolina University's educator preparation program on beginning special educators' preparedness and confidence to meet professional standards and fulfill their job responsibilities using Q methodology. For this work, undergraduate interns who were enrolled in a rural-focused teacher…

Washington State University, Responsibility Opportunity Advocacy and Respect (WSU ROAR) is an inclusive 2-year residential postsecondary education program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. WSU ROAR is a recognized comprehensive transition program located in rural eastern Washington. Within the program, there are four…

Forty-one states and 928 teacher preparation programs across the United States are using the Teaching Performance Assessment (edTPA) as an evaluation tool to determine teacher readiness and/or meet licensure requirements. Nationwide, pre-service special education teachers struggle to demonstrate proficiency in specific areas of the edTPA (i.e.,…

Lions Connected (LC) is an inclusive postsecondary program approved by the U.S. Department of Education; thus meeting rigorous program standards and accountability. Equally important is that it gives eligible students from rural areas the opportunity to receive federal financial aid to attend college. The purpose of developing LC was to meet the…

This paper reports on a project aimed at investigating teacher wellbeing in remote communities in Australia. It utilised a multiple case study methodology to investigate the lived experiences of remote Australian teachers, particularly how remote teachers simultaneously manage the wellbeing and academic needs of their students. Findings show how…

In this article, we describe the evolution of a statewide alternative teacher preparation program for teachers of students with disabilities and explain current processes to revise and expand the program to increase accessibility to teacher candidates in rural schools. We will identify important features of the program including (a) significant…

Transition planning requires quality vocational and transition assessment tailored to the student's needs, strengths, preferences and interests. Limited research is currently available that addresses assessment types and use of results that rural practitioners utilize to aid in transition planning for students with intellectual disabilities (ID).…

Many early-career teachers (ECTs) begin their teaching careers in rural and remote schools in Australia, and do not stay long, with consequences for their own lives, and for their students, schools and communities. By understanding how first-year ECTs navigate personal (subjective) and contextual (objective) conditions, opportunities to disrupt…

In states with limited road accessibility, rural students can feel isolated from library services. This article explores the creation, implementation, and results of an on-going longitudinal study assessing the library service needs of rural students in eLearning courses. To align with current practices in online pedagogies, including the…