Professional Capital in Rural and Isolated Schools in the United States

• In Event: Professional Capital: A New Agenda to Transform Teaching in Every School

Abstract

Purpose
This presentation will review current initiatives to build capacities within rural schools and communities, but, more specifically, will describe the planning and development process of a new rural educational network in the Pacific Northwest. This new network will begin with 15 schools spread across 5 states (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana) by early 2014. The model by which this network seeks to develop and circulate professional capital is identified and discussed in terms of its strengths and challenges, especially in relation to the rural context.

Theoretical framework
This presentation draws on the framework of development and action outlined by Hargreaves and Fullan (2012) in Professional Capital. For rural America, high-achieving students are those that are most likely to migrate to cities and suburbs, creating a “rural brain drain” that deprives their home communities of their most precious human resource (Carr & Kefalas, 2010). By intentionally seeking to foster professional capital among educators in rural K-12 schools, network leaders hope to receive a return on schools’ and communities’ investments in time, money, and their educators.

Data sources and modes of inquiry
The paper will present research findings drawing on surveys and interviews of the network’s planning team, including university consultants, state education agency members, and design team members. Planning meeting notes and related documents will also be analyzed to describe the initial challenges and opportunities experienced by the rural schools as they collaborate to promote an equal balance of attachment, empowerment, and achievement among their students.

Conclusions
This network not only seeks to improve student achievement, but also to enhance students’ attachment to their home communities as well as empower them to be advocates for their schools and communities. Through the planning stages of this network we will identify factors and conditions that enable or hinder the network’s success. In the initial stage of development, preliminary findings indicated challenges around issues of collective agreement on a shared vision and purpose. This presentation will illustrate how educators make sense of the network organization and activities, and their impact on student engagement and achievement.

Scholarly Significance
While there are a number of initiatives established to improve the quality of rural schools, the Northwest Rural School Improvement Network (NRSIN) is the first project that intentionally seeks to build professional capital among its participants. With support of a grant from the US Department of Education, this network aspires not only to improve student learning in rural schools, but also to revitalize them by promoting students’ identification with them and their civic leadership in their communities. Our findings will contribute to theories of educational change by demonstrating the significance of professional capital as a new way to think about and promote the large-scale transformation of teaching in the US.

Author

• Elizabeth Cox, Boston College