Rural Perspective Column: Education

The United States Department of Education has placed an increased emphasis on rural communities and the outcomes of students, partly driven by declining numbers regarding student performance outcomes and the relative importance of historical and regional talent that has derived from these areas in the past.

According to the 2019 Show Me Institute Annual Report, many rural communities, especially in the state of Missouri, have experienced marginal change between the educational experiences from generation to generation; while this is desired in many areas, student preparedness has now become a key question of interest. Rural children are increasingly residing in “higher education deserts,” according to Anne Kim’s article “Make Rural America’s ‘Higher Education Deserts’ Bloom,” and this does not bode well for their future preparedness.

There has been immense discussion as to the state of education in rural communities and whether to perceive it from a strength-based perspective of offering unique and high-quality educational opportunities for children to prosper or from the perspective of diminishing community and environmental resources leading to an educational setting of limited preparedness for the encroaching opportunities of the future.

Respective to rural Missouri, the educational system is increasingly taxed with the challenge of providing services to a student population that is changing demographically, as there is a greater percentage of students who come from low-income families; in concert with these challenges, Missouri’s rural youth are falling behind in the areas of math, science and English language proficiency. Of additional importance is the fact there are fewer children residing in rural Missouri and in rural communities throughout the U.S.

The inevitable reality of this equation is that if there are no children to learn the values that come from these spaces, then what value will be placed on the rural American lifestyle in the future?

Let us build on the community pride and shared spaces that come from many of these communities and begin to invest in our children and our communities by increasing the investment committed to education in these communities.

We have smaller spaces, and now we need to increase the preparedness and compensation of teachers, as their current pay is not competitive. We must challenge our perceptions of what and who makes a healthy community and begin the groundwork of collaboration and investment of our rural citizens. And lastly, we must commit greater efforts to producing a healthier workforce in rural Missouri.

As we invest in a healthier and younger workforce, we can be certain many of the spaces currently vacated in certain communities will experience renewed opportunities leading to future growth and opportunities for families.

The conditions are ripe for rural America if we make minor adjustments to how we see our future and how we invest in it; community mindset cannot be stagnant, and community partners can no longer afford to work in isolation for independent growth. Instead, the charge should be to collaborate and restore the communities with such a rich past rooted in valuing education and community partnerships.

Dr. Victor Wilburn is a professor and the chairperson for the Department of Child and Family Studies at Southeast Missouri State University. His emphasis is on improving the economic viability of rural communities and the social-emotional wellbeing of children.