Rural Schools and Districts

Several ESEA provisions address the unique challenges that rural schools and districts face. ESEA includes a grant program (under Part B of Title VI) designed to help rural districts that lack the personnel and resources to compete effectively for federal competitive grants and that often receive grant allocations too small to effectively meet their intended purposes. Also, in response to ESEA's highly qualified teaching provision, the US Department of Education has decided that states may allow rural local education agencies additional time for multiple subject teachers who are highly qualified in one subject to become highly qualified in the additional subjects they teach.

Guidance, Regulations, Legislation, and Announcements

Announcements

Secretary of Education Letter to Chief State School Officers regarding flexibility for rural schools in meeting the highly qualified teacher provision of NCLB (March 2004)   

Other Resources

Useful Links

Navigating Resources for Rural Schools   
Provides access to recent data, periodic studies, and tabulations prepared by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, as well as links to other sites concerned with rural education.