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OPPORTUNITIES
1. AERA Rural Education SIG Business Meeting
The Rural Education Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Educational
Research Association (AERA) will hold its annual business meeting on
Wednesday, April 14, 2004, from 6:15 p.m. - 7:45 p.m. The meeting will be
held in conjunction with the AERA Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA. The
meeting will be held in Marriott - Leucadia, South Tower, First Level. The
featured speakers will be Paul Theobald and Ted Coladarci. For more details
about the Rural Education SIG, go to
http://tc.unl.edu/ruralSIG/index.html.
2. NREA Call for Presentations and Papers
The National Rural Education Association has issued a call for workshop
presentations and Research Forum papers for the 96th Annual NREA Conference.
The conference will be held on October 19-22 in Indianapolis, IN. The
conference theme is "Rural Schools: Crossroads to our Future - Charting a
New Direction!" The deadline for submission is April 15, 2004. For more
information about the conference, or to download a pdf version of the call
for presentations, go to
http://www.nrea.net/2004NreaConvention.htm.
3. RFP for Rural Education Research Designs
McREL invites applications for small grants to fund the development of
detailed research designs that will expand and enhance the state of rural
education research. The purpose of the program is to stimulate rural
research addressing educational issues specific to schools in rural
settings, especially as they relate to the implementation of the No Child
Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Deadline for applications is May 1, 2004. To
download a copy of the RFP, go to
http://www.mcrel.org/programs/rural/opportun/index.html.
4. SPERA National
Conference
The Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia will hold its
National Conference on June 2-4, 2004, in Fremantle, Western Australia. The
conference theme is "Working Together - Staying Vital." For more information
about the conference, go to
http://www.spera.edu.au/conference/current.htm.
5. CRESS Call for Presentations
The Center for Rural Education and Small Schools and the College of
Education at Kansas State University have issued a call for presentations
for the 26th Annual Rural & Small Schools Conference. The conference will be
held November 14-15, 2004, at Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS.
Presentation applications are due June 15, 2004. To get more information
about the conference, go to
http://coe.ksu.edu/cress/.
RESEARCH & REPORTS
6. McREL Rural Education Research Agenda
McREL has identified a research agenda that connects the
challenges that schools face in implementing NCLB's provisions with the
persistent issues that have plagued rural schools for decades. The agenda is
focused around nine priority topic areas. To download a copy of "Guiding
Rural Schools and Districts: A Research Agenda," visit
http://www.mcrel.org/programs/rural/publications/research.html.
7. JRRE Articles Available Online
Full text articles from the "Journal of Research in Rural
Education" (JRRE) are available on the Appalachian Collaborative Center for
Learning, Assessment and Instruction in Mathematics (ACCLAIM) website.
ACCLAIM has converted past articles into pdf files. After the current volume
(18), JRRE will be entirely online and free. To access pdf versions of past
JRRE articles, go to
http://acclaim.coe.ohiou.edu/rc/rc_sub/vlibrary/1_jrre/list.asp.
For more information about JRRE, visit their website at
http://www.ume.maine.edu/%7Ecofed/research/jrre/.
8. Policymaker's Primer on Education Research
The Education Commission of the States (ECS) and
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) have launched a
new online tool to help policymakers, education leaders, reporters and
others better understand and evaluate education research. Called "A
Policymaker's Primer on Education Research: How To Understand, Evaluate and
Use It," the interactive, online document is a first-of-its kind effort. The
primer helps policymakers and other interested individuals answer three
questions:
| 1.
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What does the research say? |
| 2.
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Is the research trustworthy? |
| 3.
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How can the research be used to guide
policy? |
Written by McREL's Patricia Lauer,
the Primer is available online at
http://www.ecs.org/researchprimer.
9. Factors Affecting Rural Poverty
A research brief from the Rural Poverty Research Center
concludes that although poverty exists in both urban and rural places,
nonmetropolitan residents are slightly more disadvantaged. Researchers Jane
M. Mosley and Kathleen K. Miller also note that work and education are not
as effective in moving people out of poverty in nonmetro areas. A pdf
version of "What Research Says About ... Variations in Factors Affecting
Poverty" is available at
http://www.rprconline.org/.
PEOPLE, INFORMATION & RESOURCES
10. Genesis Mission Return Drawing
Near
NASA's Genesis mission has been in science collection mode, capturing
"pieces of the sun," since November 30, 2001. Now, 29 months later, on April
2, 2004, the canister will close and begin its return journey to the Earth,
with an Earth flyby on May 2, 2004, and exciting mid-air capsule retrieval
on September 8, 2004. To learn more, visit the Genesis mission website at
http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov.
11. Modifications to NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher
Provisions
On March 15, 2004, the U.S. Department of Education announced modifications
to the Highly Qualified Teacher provisions of No Child Left Behind (NCLB).
The Rural School and Community Trust has published a fact sheet detailing
the impacts of these modifications on rural schools. To download a pdf
version of "The Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements of No Child Left
Behind: Impacts on America's Rural Schools," go to
http://www.ruraledu.org/issues/nclb/Highly_Qualified_Teacher_Fact_Sheet.pdf.
12. Rural Schools go to 4-day Week
A report in the March 23, 2004, edition of "The Christian Science Monitor"
examined the trend of rural school districts going to 4-day school week in
response to tightening budgets. Author Kathy Hedberg highlights the effects
of the 4-day week on students and the community and briefly discusses the
reasons why rural schools are opting for a shorter school week. To view an
online version of the report, go to
http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/2004/0323/p03s01-ussc.html.
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