Each week, NREA and the I Am A Rural Teacher Campaign share how vast rural America is. Check out our 50 States highlight on Facebook: facebook.com/iaartcampaign
We now have a public-facing spreadsheet showing every state featured so far, where to see it, and a story from the state! Check it out: https://bit.ly/50s50w
Feel free to contact Hailey Winkleman, the NREA Advocacy Liaison for this campaign, at iaartcampaign@gmail.com with any questions about submitting your story. |
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| Garrett County, Md. (Western Maryland in the Allegheny Mountains, which form the western flank of Appalachia.) -- A few years ago Microsoft partnered with local ISPs to bring broadband to schools and businesses that were previously disconnected in Garrett County. |
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| Virtual Rural Summit on Education was a great success. We had over 70 participants, from Colonial Beach, VA to Boise, Idaho, join us for what turned out to be a great day of learning and sharing! The videos are now available and you can view them at https://www.vacosars.org/home/2020-sos-summit . The Mitigation Panel (Session 1) was especially popular and was an excellent response to the S.O.S. that rural leaders were sending. Regardless of the method or reopening you are implementing, there is something to learn from all of the Sessions. Also, don't forget to check out the plans and documents that have been added by several rural school divisions to our main website - www.vacosars.org (Huge thanks to our webmaster, Dr. Matt Hurt).
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| The digital divide turned into a yawning chasm for far too many students this spring. Educators have long known that a sizable percentage of students have no way to access learning at home, either because they don’t have devices, high-speed internet, or both. But those concerns could be papered over while students were in school. When school buildings abruptly closed—along with other sources of computer and internet access, like libraries—districts were left scrambling to support students, many of whom were already vulnerable to the effects of digital inequities. |
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The nation’s education leaders are making high-stakes decisions about how to reopen schools this fall as the coronavirus pandemic rages on—many of them under tremendous, competing pressures. Education Week is tracking and sharing reopening plans of a sample of school districts across the country. As of July 23, 9 of the 15 largest school districts are choosing remote learning only as their back-to-school instructional model, affecting over 2 million students. With more than 13,000 public school systems in the United States, this working list is far from comprehensive. Our data is meant to provide a broad snapshot of how districts will begin the 2020-21 school year. Because the situation is rapidly evolving and some districts have already made major adjustments to reopening plans, we are providing the date that we last verified reopening information. These plans are subject to change in any district, at any time, depending on the trajectory of the virus and health recommendations from state and local authorities. As we track these reopening scenarios, we invite you to share your district’s plans if you can provide a link to the district’s announcement. You can email information to library@educationweek.org. |
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| Rural Educator Weekly Spotlight: |
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| This article shares the findings of a mixed method study about the implementation of 1:1 computing in a small rural Florida school district. Researchers used multiple regression analyses to examine whether Davis’ (1989) Technology Acceptance Model helped explain teachers’ adoption of 1:1. The results indicated that the rural teachers’ perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of 1:1 were significant predictors of both whole class and individualized instructions with 1:1. The qualitative phase of the study explored the ways in which the teachers integrated 1:1 into their instructional practices and what factors motivated them to do so. The analysis showed that the teachers used 1:1 largely to foster digital literacy and collaboration as well as to conduct student assessment. Reasons why the teachers integrated 1:1 into instruction included increasing student engagement, personalizing learning, and facilitating teacher productivity. |
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| Sharing Information From Our Partners and Sponsors: |
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Defined Learning is a resource that brings together project based learning and careers for k-12 schools. Instructionally students will apply their learning in cross curricular performance tasks and philosophically do so in the context of a career pathway. Our flagship resource gives teachers and students over 400 performance tasks built around an occupation that ask students to be problem solvers and critical thinkers. For schools that are looking to expand their PBL offerings as well as deepen cross curricular careers into the curriculum. |
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