Implementing the No Child Left Behind Act: Implications for Rural Schools and Districts
Rural Challenges and No Child Left Behind
Accountability
NCLB specifies that states must develop Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) objectives for improved achievement of all students and for specific student subgroups (economically disadvantaged, major racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency). The AYP objectives must be assessed at the school level and must be reported separately for each subgroup of students. States have flexibility in defining AYP and in setting the number of students required to form a statistically valid subgroup.
Small schools, many of which are rural, are in greater danger of being mislabeled as "in need of improvement" than large schools due to the volatile nature of school-level reporting from year to year (Figlio, 2002; Kane & Staiger, 2002; Linn et al., 2002). If fewer than 100 students are tested in each grade, averages may fluctuate significantly from year to year for reasons that are often unrelated to overall school performance. Test score volatility arises from two sources (Linn et al., 2002). First, variation in the groups of students being tested each year can cause fluctuations. Contributing factors may include the attitudes and abilities of students in each cohort, student mobility, or an influx of immigrants. Secondly, one-time factors such as teacher turnover, a flu epidemic, or construction noise on the day of testing can also affect scores (Linn et al., 2002). In small student populations, these differences can cause dramatic fluctuations in annual average test scores.
One way of reducing the volatility in school level test scores is to average test scores over several years, a remedy allowed under NCLB. A study by David Figlio (2002) indicates that the stabilizing benefit of a three-year rolling average is greatest among smaller schools. In an analysis of school level data from two Florida districts, Figlio found that, for the smallest fourth of schools, going from a one-year to a three-year average reduced the number of "unstable" schools (schools that appear to improve one year and fall back the next, or vice versa) from 63 percent to 27 percent. For the largest fourth of the schools, the number was reduced from 50 percent to 29 percent.
While Kane and Staiger (2002) agree that utilizing a multiple-year rolling average would be an improvement over the use of one-year averages, they claim there is a more efficient way to measure school performance. Kane and Staiger propose placing more weight on more recent scores for large schools, and placing more equal weight on each of several years' worth of scores for small schools. The flexibility in NCLB permits states to explore alternatives such as these for measuring AYP.
Not only do small schools face the likelihood of being mislabeled in terms of performance, they face obstacles in implementing the sanctions that apply when a school is identified as "in need of improvement." Under NCLB, schools that fail to make AYP over time face increasingly severe interventions. Schools that fail to make AYP for two consecutive years will receive technical assistance from the district, must develop a school improvement plan, and must provide students with public school choice options. Schools that do not meet AYP for three consecutive years are required to provide supplemental education services to low-achieving, low-income students.
Providing parents with school choice poses three challenges for rural schools. First, many rural school districts are either one-building districts or have only one school at a particular grade level. For example, of Nebraska's 692 school districts, only about 50 of those include multiple schools at a given grade level. For these districts, there are no alternatives within the districts for school choice.
Second, transportation is already a difficult issue in rural districts, and NCLB, through the school choice requirement, will likely only exacerbate the problems associated with transporting students long distances. Rural districts already spend disproportionately on student transportation services. A recent study reported that rural schools spend twice the amount of urban districts on transportation (Killeen & Sipple, 2000). Where rural districts spend upwards of 6 to 8 percent of their budget on transporting students, non-rural districts spend around 4 percent. West Virginia, a largely rural state, spends more of its education dollars on transportation than any other state, nearly 7 percent of its education budget (Eyre & Finn, 2002). Four West Virginia counties spend more than 10 percent of their budgets on busing. This may not seem significant, but when comparing 10 percent of a $900,000 budget to 4 percent of a $9 million budget, the difference becomes dramatic.
Longer bus rides affect more than a district's budget. A recent year-long investigation by the Charleston Gazette-Mail uncovered some disturbing data pertaining to bus rides in rural West Virginia (Eyre & Finn, 2002). For the 2002-2003 school year, more than half of all bus routes in rural West Virginia exceeded "reasonable" distances under its guidelines. Elementary children ride the bus more than an hour each way on more than 300 bus routes in 34 of the state's 35 most rural counties. In addition, elementary children ride with high school students in almost every rural West Virginia county. Students with long bus rides reported that they were stressed and tired, that their grades have dropped, they participate in fewer after-school activities, and they spend less time with their families. Parents whose children attend school far from home attend fewer parent-teacher meetings, volunteer less, and attend fewer extra-curricular activities at the school.
Finally, rural schools are concerned about the public relations problems associated with the school choice requirements of NCLB. Districts must inform parents that, under federal law, if their school is "in need of improvement" they can send their children to another, higher performing school. At the same time, they must tell them that there is no alternative within the district. Under these circumstances, the potential for confusion within the community is great.
While, theoretically, students could attend school in a neighboring district, often this is not a viable option due to the transportation issues outlined above. One possible solution to the lack of choice in rural areas is to encourage districts to offer supplemental services in lieu of school choice alternatives. While supplemental services are not required unless the school fails to meet AYP for three consecutive years, offering supplemental services earlier would provide parents the needed assistance to help their students meet state standards.
The provision of supplemental services in rural areas also presents challenges for districts. However, with some guidance and assistance from state education agencies, the problems could be more easily addressed than those pertaining to school choice.
Under NCLB, states are required to distribute to parents of students in schools "in need of improvement" a list of state-approved service providers. In recent months, states have requested proposals from organizations hoping to provide supplemental services in the state. As states collect and review those proposals, a number of challenges have arisen concerning the provision of services in rural areas.
For example, in some states, the only proposals received have come from large companies such as Sylvan Learning Centers or online companies. This poses a number of problems for rural schools. First, providers do not have to agree to provide services in every school district in the state. Therefore, urban and suburban schools have a distinct advantage in attracting supplemental services in that they are able to create a more lucrative market for providers on the basis of simple economics of scale. In addition, many of the companies applying to provide services do not operate facilities in rural areas. It is unclear whether NCLB will provide enough of an incentive for providers to offer services in rural areas and small towns. Rural districts will likely need to examine alternative means of providing supplemental services.
At first glance, online providers appear to offer a viable alternative for rural schools. Iowa, a predominantly rural state, received a majority of its supplemental services proposals from online companies. After a thorough review of the proposals, the state reopened the process due to some of the limitations associated with online service/providers.
For example, online programs require a certain degree of maturity and skill on the part of the student. The student must be computer literate and able to work independently in order to make effective use of computer-based programs. As a result, many online providers only offer programs for students in middle and upper grades. The online providers who responded to Iowa's RFP provide services only to students in Grades 5-12. In Iowa, the majority of schools in need of improvement are elementary schools. Another problem associated with online providers is that services would have to be provided at the school itself because many students from low-income families do not have computers at home. The school would have to provide opportunities for students to use the school computers and would have to provide staff to oversee their use.
Another problem facing rural schools is the need to ensure high quality from distance learning service providers. NCLB provides no guidelines for determining and monitoring the quality of supplemental service providers. Due to the limited options in rural areas, rural schools will likely have to take what they can get with little or no assurance of the quality of those services, particularly for online providers.
In order to ensure that rural school students have access to supplemental services, state education agencies might work with rural districts to develop creative solutions to this problem. States could work with rural districts to identify potential providers in the community, such as regional service centers, community colleges, after-school programs, libraries, or faith-based organizations. More importantly, states need to provide guidelines to schools and districts to help them to identify quality service providers. In addition, state education agencies could work with rural schools to develop virtual high schools and other e-learning opportunities. Kentucky's Virtual High School (KVHS) provides a model. KVHS was developed as a way of providing an expanded curriculum to students across the state. KVHS provides advanced placement and foreign language courses, instructional support for at-risk students, and adult education programs. In addition, professional development opportunities are available for educators. This program is part of the technology plan developed as part of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 to establish a technology network throughout the state to be used, in part, to improve access to high-level curriculum and other support programs in small schools2. The virtual high school provides a way of addressing multiple challenges facing rural schools, including the provision of supplemental services.
Teacher Recruitment and Retention
NCLB requires states to ensure that all teachers of core academic subjects are "highly qualified" by the end of 2005-2006. Core academic subjects include English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civics and government, economics, arts, history, and geography. The law defines a "highly qualified" teacher as one who is fully licensed or certified by the state. In addition to being fully licensed or certified, teachers must demonstrate competency in the subject they teach. To demonstrate competency, elementary school teachers must pass a state test demonstrating subject knowledge and teaching skills in reading, writing, mathematics and other areas of a basic elementary school curriculum. Middle or secondary level teachers can demonstrate competency in one of three ways: 1.) pass a state test; 2.) complete an academic major, graduate degree, or advanced certification; or 3.) meet the requirements of a state evaluation standard used to judge competency. Given the current circumstances in rural schools, there are a number of potential obstacles facing rural schools and districts in meeting these requirements.
Many rural schools already have difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers, particularly teachers who have credentials in several subject areas, special education teachers, foreign language teachers, and teachers for LEP and bilingual programs. The requirements of NCLB will likely exacerbate the already existing problems, as the new law will increase the demand for "highly qualified" teachers. Increased demand could result in higher competitive salary levels. Low resource schools will face greater disadvantages in attracting and retaining teachers in this more competitive environment. Currently, the difference between average rural teacher salaries and other teacher salaries varies by state from around $250 to as much as $10,400 (Rural School and Community Trust, 2000). Schools that do not have the resources to compete with larger, wealthier urban and suburban districts and schools will be less able to meet the requirements for a "highly qualified" staff.
The disparities in teacher salaries are due in large part to state funding formulas. Many state funding formulas for teacher salaries are based on housing costs. In areas of declining population, housing is less expensive, and so it is assumed that teachers require less to live in those areas. However, attracting teachers to rural areas does not depend on how much a teacher pays for a house, but rather what it takes to get a teacher to move to an area like the Mississippi Delta. For many teachers, it would take a salary higher than what is offered in urban and suburban schools to attract them to these communities. The inequities in the system result in less attractive locales having a much more difficult time attracting teachers.
The extent to which rural districts have difficulty attracting and retaining teachers varies by location. Geographically isolated communities face greater problems in attracting teachers, while schools located on the outskirts of suburban areas face greater difficulty in retaining teachers. Geographically isolated communities have difficulty attracting teachers to their community because of lower pay and social and professional isolation. Collins (1999), in a review of the literature on rural teacher retention, cites a survey of teacher mobility in one rural district that found that teachers leave communities because of geographic isolation, weather, distance from larger communities and family, and inadequate shopping (Murphy & Angelski, 1996/1997, cited in Collins, 1999). Schools located close to suburban areas are often able to attract teachers, but tend to lose them after only a couple of years. New teachers view these rural areas as attractive places to begin their teaching careers. However, they soon leave for higher paying positions in the nearby suburban schools.
The new certification requirements will likely increase existing disincentives to teach in rural schools, particularly rural secondary schools. Teaching "out of field" is common in small rural high schools. Limited access to a choice of faculty often makes this practice a necessity. Not only is "out of field" teaching common, but teachers also frequently prepare for a number of different courses daily. For example, a science teacher in a small rural high school may teach each of the science courses offered by the school. She may prepare up to five different courses each day. When a job becomes available in a suburban school in which she will be able to teach one or two science courses each day for higher pay, the decision to leave is not a difficult one.
For rural schools, teaching out of field is an issue of economies of scale. Small high schools cannot afford to hire teachers to cover one class each of higher level math and science courses, nor do they have sufficient numbers of students to demand it. Requiring certification for one teacher in more than one subject area will be expensive and time consuming. Combined with the lower salaries paid to teachers in rural schools, more stringent certification requirements will become another disincentive for teachers to take positions in rural schools. Teachers will have to pass multiple tests to be paid half as much as teachers in urban or suburban schools who need to pass one test.
Rural schools and districts have always been creative in recruiting teachers, particularly in hard-to-staff subject areas such as math, special education, and languages. This year, a rural school in Illinois was unable to find a state certified Spanish teacher for its high school. They hired a local woman with a Spanish degree, who had taught in the Community College system, and had the characteristics of an excellent teacher. Soon after she was hired, she enrolled in a program that would enable her to earn certification within one year. Under the new federal law, the school was required to send letters to the parents of students enrolled in the new teacher's Spanish classes informing them that the Spanish teacher was not "highly qualified." The district superintendent found himself in the position of explaining the meaning of not "highly qualified" and trying to reassure parents that their children were receiving a quality education. The superintendent expressed concern that the perception generated by the school's label of not having a highly qualified staff overshadows the good things that the school is doing.
Another example demonstrates the problems faced by rural schools dealing with high rates of teacher turnover. In a small rural district in Illinois, 15 of the 17 teachers in a low performing, rural, one-building high school district in Illinois are new this year. A number of those do not have a state teaching certificate. The school was unable to attract enough applicants who met the requirements of NCLB. The high rate of teacher turnover in this school has broad consequences. Last year, the school implemented a comprehensive school reform model in an effort to turn the school around. Yet, this year, the majority of teachers who were trained in the model are gone. Now, they must start over.
Recent research on the issue of teacher shortages has identified the problem largely as one of distribution (Darling-Hammond, 2001; Ingersoll, 2001; NASBE, 1998; Olson, 2000; Voke, 2002). According to recent studies, the greatest shortage is among teachers who are both qualified and willing to teach in what have been traditionally hard-to-staff schools. Traditionally hard-to-staff schools include those in highly urban and rural areas, and particularly those schools serving minority or low-income students. A shortage also exists in certain geographic regions in the country, and in particular specialties such as special education, bilingual education, and math and science (NASBE, 1998).
A number of researchers and national education organizations have recently argued that states should focus greater attention on developing programs that target persons who are willing to work in hard-to-staff schools and positions (Ingersoll, 2001; NASBE, 1998; Voke, 2002). However, strategies aimed at increasing the supply of teachers are not likely to be effective if they ignore the high turnover rate (Olson, 2000). While all types of districts report problems retaining new teachers, this problem is particularly pronounced in schools located in low-income areas (Hare & Heap, 2001; NASBE, 1998).
One approach to improving retention frequently used in rural districts is to recruit and train teachers from the local community. By targeting individuals who have ties to the community and the qualities to be good teachers, schools are less likely to lose those teachers after only a few years. Under NCLB, rural districts will have to ensure that teachers recruited from the community are certified, or have access to a teacher certification program before they enter the classroom in 2005-2006. Nevertheless, for rural schools, developing local talent will continue to be an important retention strategy.
Collins (1999) argues that the degree to which a rural teacher becomes involved in the community influences his or her decision to leave or stay; therefore, retention requires a coordinated school-community effort. A school-community orientation helps new teachers overcome feelings of isolation, acquire a sense of community security, and develop professional competence. Collins suggests that principals select a new teacher's initial assignments carefully, set clear goals, welcome feedback, establish an encouraging and nonthreatening environment, and provide opportunities to interact with experienced colleagues and parents. Universities also can play an important role by offering cost-effective distance-learning courses that connect rural teachers to a professional network.
Another option is for states to offer financial incentives to candidates who are qualified and willing to teach in shortage areas or increase the ability of financially disadvantaged districts to pay for qualified teachers (U.S. Department of Education, 2000; NASBE, 1998; National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, 1997). Initiatives should focus on rewarding those willing to teach in high-need areas where teacher retention is problematic by offering higher salaries than the salaries paid in areas and fields in which there is a glut of qualified teachers (NASBE, 1998).
Examples of Effective Strategies for Recruiting and Training Teachers.
Distance learning has been proposed as a strategy for alleviating many of the problems rural schools face in providing a comprehensive curriculum and training teachers. Distance learning allows small schools to offer a more comprehensive curriculum without hiring additional staff. Distance learning also makes it possible for geographically isolated schools to provide professional development for their teachers without incurring the high costs associated with travel. However, it is important to remember that distance learning encompasses a wide variety of technologies with varying degrees of effectiveness. At one end of the spectrum are online courses that are very similar to correspondence courses. Students work at their own pace with little or no interaction with an instructor or other students. At the other end of the spectrum, fully interactive I-TV technology provides a more classroom-like environment. With I-TV, teachers and students can use technology to interact in real time. As years of research have shown, students perform better when they learn in a structured setting that includes regular interaction with their teacher and their peers. This is also true for teachers participating in professional development. Training is more effective when it is prolonged and hands-on. I-TV enables teachers and students to participate in fully interactive programs that provide hands-on activities and prolonged interaction.
Interactive technology can connect schools that cannot individually afford to hire teachers in advanced subject areas. Schools can create consortia to build I-TV networks in which all schools in the network can both send and receive courses. A physics teacher in school A could send her course to schools B and C. A French teacher in school B could send his course to schools A and C, and so on. Such consortia provide a way to capitalize on the assets of small schools while alleviating the deficiencies.
Interactive technology also has the potential to increase professional development opportunities available to rural teachers. Instead of driving 50 to 100 miles, teachers could participate in fully interactive training sessions without leaving their school. Through I-TV, rural teachers could interact with teachers from around the country to improve their knowledge and skills, all without leaving the school.
Yet, once again, the ability of rural schools to take advantage of interactive technology depends on their access to resources. In this case, it is access to high-speed Internet connections and the resources necessary to support and maintain these kinds of networks that pose problems for rural schools. In order to use interactive technologies, schools need a minimum of a T1 line or "broadband" access to the Internet, a connection able to transmit large amounts of video and data in two directions. Rural schools have limited access to broadband and the cost is highly variable.
The E-rate has had some impact in terms of the cost of Internet access. Schools can receive a discounted rate on telecommunications service. However, that discount does not impact the starting price, which in some rural areas can be as high as $3,000 per month. In addition, some communities are too remote to be served. If the service is not available, the discount is useless. Sparsely populated rural areas do not have the customer base to attract telecommunications companies. Therefore, there is no profit incentive for telecommunications companies to provide service in those areas.
In recent years, a number of initiatives aimed at enticing telecommunications companies to expand broadband services in rural areas have been introduced in Congress. Federal proposals include loans and/or grant programs as well as initiatives modeled after the Rural Electrification Act that brought electricity to rural America. While these proposals have stalled in Congress, a few states have implemented programs that take advantage of bulk buying power to provide the infrastructure for service in remote areas. Missouri provides an example. MOREnet (Missouri Research and Education Network) encouraged the state's telecommunications providers to construct a high-speed network throughout the state. Through this network, MOREnet is able to provide high-speed Internet access to Missouri's public sector, including schools. In addition, GreaterNET, a not-for-profit, member-based organization, brokers I-TV courses across the state and provides support services for participating schools. GreaterNET is part of rural Education Renewal Zones (ERZ) in Missouri aimed at improving rural education and teacher preparation through the use of technology. The ERZ collaboration also includes two teacher-training institutions, a technical college, the state education agency, and a number of technical support organizations.
However, broadband access is just the first step in building effective interactive networks. First, schools and districts must have adequate knowledge of technology, its capabilities, and effective ways of incorporating technology into instruction. Not all technology is created equal. Schools and districts must be able to evaluate technology and service providers to determine their quality and appropriateness. Second, for technology to be effective, teachers and students must be adequately trained to use the technology. Those using the technology must be knowledgeable of the proper operation of the equipment and knowledgeable of ways to maximize the effectiveness of technology to support learning. In addition, schools must provide support and maintenance for the technology. Many schools cannot afford to employ an on-site technology coordinator to provide support. Once again, the major obstacle facing rural districts is access to resources. Under current funding formulas, many rural districts do not have access to the financial resources needed to take full advantage of the latest technology. Programs such as the one in Missouri are a step toward helping rural schools address problems associated with being small and rural.
