This qualitative study compares the instructional leadership practices of rural and non-rural principals, seeking to understand contextually based differences in how principals create a focus on teaching and learning. Principals across settings report similarities in instructional leadership tasks; however, they reported significant contextual…

Background: Designed in 2012 with a first implementation in 2013, NE STEM 4U is a professional development program for post-secondary students/undergraduates, and serves as a source of outreach, content knowledge generation, and STEM literacy for youth in grades kindergarten through 8th grade (ages 5-14). The model empowers post-secondary students…

In spring 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic led to an unprecedented and abrupt stoppage of in-person learning in schools across the country. State education agency leaders in Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming needed information on proposed strategies in districts' remote learning plans to ensure continuity and better support remote learning in…

The "Variations in District Strategies for Remote Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic" study examined proposed strategies in districts' remote learning plans to ensure continuity and to better support remote learning in Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming. This study used document analysis to examine proposed strategies related…

There is evidence that early care and education (ECE) teachers and caregivers share common challenges, it is not clear whether their challenges differ by geographic location. That is, are there any regional characteristics that may affect the ECE workforce differentially? To better understand the pressures facing the ECE workforce and whether…

Context: Disparities in the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality of multiple mental health conditions have been described between rural and urban populations. However, there is limited information regarding differences in exposure to trauma and trauma-related mental health conditions in these populations. Given the number of veterans who are…

This report describes the extent and distribution of student mobility in five Central Region states. The study, which calculated student mobility percentages in each state and compared percentages by locale (city, suburb, town, and rural locale, and degree of rurality) within each state, found no consistent patterns across locales. Research…

This article focuses on historical admissions policies and offers a more nuanced and more substantial treatment of the relationship between Populism and higher education. Prior accounts of admissions in the late nineteenth century have sensibly focused upon the tension between secondary school leaders who were mindful of their multiple…

Applied eight categorical definitions of "rurality" to all 93 Nebraska counties. Cluster analysis yielded four clusters of counties that exhibited substantial differences from one another. Discussion includes implications for policy and research. Tables and reference list. (TES)

The problem was to examine career patterns of the rural secondary school teacher versus the city secondary school teacher and to identify significant relationships. (Author)

Finds that, among 36 of 42 Nebraska juvenile court judges, rural judges were more likely than urban judges to take an activist role in obtaining services for youth, to have an informal relationship with local service providers, and to welcome non-judicial solutions for problem youth. Contains 29 references. (SV)

A 15-item questionnaire was administered to 36 rural Nebraska superintendents concerning special education. Financing of special education programs ranked as the number one concern of superintendents. Other high ranking concerns were meeting state guidelines, increasing enrollment, shortages of support service personnel, and matching the…

This paper examines the degree of superintendent turnover in Nebraska, a state dominated by rural school districts. It also lists the causes of turnover as reported by short-term superintendents. This study finds that turnover is higher in the subject rural districts than the national average. Superintendents report that they leave these rural…

This report covers the first phase of a three-phase research program entitled "Developing Model NYC Programs for Rural Youth". The report contains three sections. The first section, "An Experimental Rural Youth Program for the North Central States" contains a detailed description of the general framework of a program for rural…