A new report by the National Charter School Resource Center examines the unique position of rural charter schools across America.
Citing a lack of research on the subject, as well as the demand for more examples of successful practice, the authors identify some of the unique difficulties that rural charter schools face: attracting and holding onto diverse local talent, paying to transport students over large distances, and maintaining and securing school facilities.
These challenges are often more acute for rural charter schools than their urban counterparts. There are hidden costs to teachers living and working in rural areas, such as a lack of suitable housing, professional growth opportunities, and good transportation. Providing transportation to students in areas with few alternative options may be prohibitively expensive. Simply locating appropriate buildings in which to operate a charter school is usually easier in an urban environment, where disused structures are more frequently available. When rural charters need to construct their own, costs rise exponentially.
Using examples in five states, the authors showcase a handful of rural charters that have overcome this adversity by using their position to their advantage.
- Having struggled to retain good staff, the remote Upper Carmen Charter School in Idaho taught experienced teachers to train uncertified newcomers who possessed much-needed instructional skills. It is now in the top 10 percent of Idaho’s schools.
- Kansas’s Walton 21st Century Rural Life Center tackled a flat-lining enrollment rate by tweaking its curriculum to focus more on agriculture—a significant source of jobs in the community. Enrollment grew, and 90 percent of its students now surpass both national math and reading grade levels.
- Crestone Charter School in Colorado, facing resource shortages, inadequate school facilities, and pervasive social and community problems, partnered with Colorado’s Building Excellent Schools Today program to lobby successfully for increased funding that helped transform it into one of the state’s top three schools.
- North Idaho STEM Charter Academy introduced a four-day school week and longer school days because of escalating transport and utilities costs, saving 20 percent on transport and food service costs (and, the authors note, creating the option of a dedicated weekly professional development day).
- Arizona’s Benson Unified School District—struggling to balance a diverse portfolio of traditional district schools, a virtual school, and a charter high school—used an open-source textbook program called Beyond Textbooks to assist in teacher planning, communication, and professional development. This allowed teachers to overcome geographic isolation and share effective strategies for implementing standards in their classrooms. Increased connectivity also gives the district access to high-quality online resources at a fraction of the cost of traditional alternatives.
The five case studies effectively demonstrate a variety of locally based solutions to rural charters’ struggles to cut costs, increase their community buy-in, provide better teacher support, and access high-quality curricular resources. It proves that these schools can thrive when rural policy makers and legislators give them the flexibility to innovate.
SOURCE: Mukta Pandit and Ibtissam Ezzeddine, “Harvesting Success: Charter Schools in Rural America,” National Charter School Resource Center (February, 2016).
