Share your research about rural education issues – submit a research session proposal!

Since the conference is virtual, research sessions will be different from years past. All research sessions will be pre-recorded and made available as on-demand content for viewing during and post-conference. Research sessions can be up to 30 minutes in length.

We will select a limited number of researchers who submit research session proposals to showcase their work during day one of conference programming.

Research session proposals are due July 31, 2020, and we will send acceptance notifications in mid-September. If we accept your research session proposal, there is a requirement that you register for the conference.

Each week, NREA and the I Am A RuralTeacher Campaign share how vast rural America is. Check out our 50 States highlight on Facebook: facebook.com/iaartcampaign

Are you a Tennessee ruralteacher? We'd love to hear from you,Tennessee Rural Education Association! If you're from another state, your feature is coming soon, so submit today at http://bit.ly/iaartsubmit.

Feel free to contact Hailey Winkleman, the NREA Advocacy Liaison for this campaign, at iaartcampaign@gmail.com with any questions about submitting your story.

The Tennessee Rural Education Association

Tennessee is proud of its rich history of strong, rural communities. Currently, 49% of school districts in Tennessee are located in rural communities. From agriculture to energy to entrepreneurs, the work of Tennessee’s rural communities impacts citizens throughout our state and nation.

Tennessee Rural Education Association (TNREA) is committed to helping strengthen and transform rural education in the state of Tennessee. Successful rural schools play a vital role in the economic development of Tennessee's communities. Helping students access opportunities to prepare them for college and careers can attract jobs regionally and statewide. By doing this, rural schools can create a talent pipeline for current students to stay in their communities and be tomorrow's teachers and leaders.

TheRural Tech Project is a $600,000 challenge to advance rural technology education and prepare students for the careers of today and tomorrow. The U.S. Department of Education invites high schools and local educational agencies to propose technology education programs that use competency-based distance learning.

This open innovation challenge will empower educators with resources to create technology education programs that are customized for their students and local needs. By advancing technology skills development, rural communities can help their students prepare for rewarding career opportunities.

Proposals are due October 8. Up to five finalists will progress to Phase 2 and each receive an equal share of the $500,000 cash prize pool, on-the-ground-assistance, and access to virtual resources. One grand-prize winner will receive an additional $100,000.Register for the July 21 virtual information session to learn more.

Before the coronavirus crisis, schools in hilly, forested Brown County, Indiana, didn’t expect students to work online at home.

Even with a growing fiber network in the area, too many families couldn’t connect to the internet, and those who did often used hot spots or unreliable connections. So schools used workarounds: Students did their assignments offline at home and logged on once they got to school to upload work, said Superintendent Laura Hammack.

As we get closer to the fall, when students would normally be getting ready to return to their physical school buildings, states, districts, and schools are thinking through what school spaces will look like. How will we enforce social distancing? How do we offer supports for students and staff who may be at greater risk? How do we coordinate transportation? Superintendent Tony Thurmond of California and Deputy Superintendent Colt Gill of Oregon will address these questions and more.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 29, 2020 —With the prospect of another distance learning school year on the horizon due to the coronavirus pandemic, a new analysis released today finds that a full 15 to 16 million public school students across the United States live in households without adequate internet access or computing devices to facilitate distance learning. The analysis, from Common Sense and Boston Consulting Group, also finds that almost 10% of public school teachers (300,000 to 400,000) are also caught in the gap, affecting their ability to run remote classes. The 32-page report, Closing the K–12 Digital Divide in the Age of Distance Learning, fixes a one-year price tag of at least $6 billion and as much as $11 billion to connect all kids at home, and an additional $1 billion to close the divide for teachers.

"This new report shows that not only is the distance learning gap larger than previously estimated but that too many teachers are caught in it, too, and it will require significant and immediate investments from Congress to close it," said James P. Steyer, CEO and founder of Common Sense. "This new data and analysis further highlights the urgency for policymakers, educators, and private companies to address this basic educational equity issue that affects kids in every state. Our report makes clear that during this age of distance learning, we have to act right now to close the digital divide that is leaving millions of kids behind."

Inequities in quality education limit the access of American public school students to tomorrow's job opportunities that increasingly require STEM literacy.

The STEM Ed Innovators Fellowship is an online, mentored, professional development program for STEM teachers, offering breakthrough STEM teaching principles for immediate deployment in the classroom.

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STEM Ed Fellows become more self-assured in teaching, increase their professional empowerment, benefit from an experienced mentor, learn from a talented community of peers, and develop confidence in their ability to achieve better outcomes in their classrooms.