The Rural Imperative Initiative aims to give a voice to rural schools across the nation. Missouri State University is partnering in this effort to bring the needs and concerns of rural schools to the attention of state, regional, and national policymakers.

The initiative is a collaborative effort between Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC), National Rural Education Association (NREA), and Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO). The initiative is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Rural Imperative Initiative will help teacher-leaders connect policy to place in five rural regions: Appalachia, Black Belt, Borderlands, Rust Belt, and Northern California.

The College of Education (COE) at Missouri State University is spearheading the rural school initiative program for the Rust Belt region.

“We’ll be working with school partners to identify teachers to participate in this initiative,” COE Interim Dean Barri Tinkler said. “The COE is very excited to be a part of this work to engage teacher’s voices in contributing to policy formation.”

As a valued Statistics in Schools partner, I wanted to let you know that the local 2020 Census results are in! Our state profile pages bring you all the key population characteristics of your state and your county on one page. Through interactive maps for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, each page provides a snapshot of change from 2010 to 2020.

Five key areas are highlighted on each state page to show how where you live compares:

Please share this information so teachers and students can explore the most recent demographic changes in their state and county and see how they compare to those in the nation and in neighboring areas. State profiles are available here.

IMPORTANT Voucher Court CaseThis December, the Supreme Court will hear the case Carson v Makin, a case whose issue is ‘whether a state violates the religion clauses or equal protection clause of the United States Constitution by prohibiting students participating in an otherwise generally available student-aid program from choosing to use their aid to attend schools that provide religious, or “sectarian,” instruction.’

Pre-emptive school closures are frontline community mitigation measures recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for implementation during severe pandemics. This study describes the spatiotemporal patterns of publicly announced school closures implemented in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and assesses how public K-12 districts adjusted their methods of education delivery and provision of subsidized meals. During February 18–June 30, 2020, we used daily systematic media searches to identify publicly announced COVID-19–related school closures lasting ≥1 day in the United States (US). We also collected statewide school closure policies from state government websites. Data on distance learning and subsidized meal programs were collected from a stratified sample of 600 school districts. The first COVID-19–associated school closure occurred on February 27, 2020, in Washington state. By March 30, 2020, all but one US public school districts were closed, representing the first-ever nearly synchronous nationwide closure of public K-12 schools in the US. Approximately 100,000 public schools were closed for ≥8 weeks because of COVID-19, affecting >50 million K-12 students. Of 600 districts sampled, the vast majority offered distance learning (91.0%) and continued provision of subsidized meal programs (78.8%) during the closures. Despite the sudden and prolonged nature of COVID-19–associated school closures, schools demonstrated flexibility by implementing distance learning and alternate methods to continue subsidized meal programs.

Connect Americans Now (CAN) executive director Richard T. Cullen released the following statement celebrating the inaugural Telehealth Awareness Week.

“Too many Americans without broadband access, devices or digital skills are unable to unlock the full potential of telehealth solutions that can increase access to care, improve health care outcomes and enhance the quality of life,” Cullen said. “CAN is proud to participate in Telehealth Awareness Week and use this opportunity to highlight the need for every American community, regardless of zip code, to have access to an affordable and reliable broadband connection that can support virtual care solutions.”

“Americans’ use of broadband-enabled telehealth solutions climbed 35 percent from 2019 to 2020 and more than 75 percent of Americans say they would like to use telehealth services in the future,” Cullen added. “Congress must act to ensure Americans aren’t left behind — by passing the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and advancing additional, permanent solutions to ensure digital equity for every community.”

Founded in 2017, Connect Americans Now (CAN) is a broad-based coalition of more than 300 companies and organizations representing leading voices in agriculture, education, health care, veterans’ issues, technology, and small business — committed to urgent action to completely eliminate the digital divide in every American community.

Read about how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will improve broadband connectivity and digital equity HERE.

Learn more about solutions to permanently close the broadband gap HERE.

Read more on CAN and our mission HERE.