Districts are under pressure from multiple directions: rapid student adoption, thin policy infrastructure, undertrained teachers, and a tightening pipeline of specialized talent.
Improving attendance is one of the highest-return investments available to policymakers: An analysis suggests that raising high school graduation rates by just three percentage points could generate billions of dollars.
The dominant metaphor for colleges of education is a pipeline. Candidates enter, complete preparation, and exit into schools. That model is no longer sufficient.
In the evolving landscape of American education, rural public schools have moved from the "fringes" of policy debate to a central role as vital community anchors.
