Overview

Rural schools face serious difficulties in hiring and retaining teachers. In response, the Rural Schools Collaborative supports a learning network of over 25 Rural Teacher Corps programs dedicated to recruiting, preparing, and retaining rural educators.

MDRC is supporting the Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC) to codevelop a research strategy focused on their Rural Teacher Corps programs. MDRC will work with Rural Teacher Corps participants to document strengths, challenges, and opportunities for Rural Teacher Corps models.  ​

Through the research partnership, MDRC, RSC, and partners hope to identify (1) challenges that communities face to recruit, train, and retain rural educators, (2) innovative examples from RSC’s partner network seeking to address these challenges, and (3) recommendations on a long-term research effort on the impact of intentional rural teacher preparation programs.

Visit the National Rural Higher Education Research Center to learn more about MDRC's work in rural education.