What We Do
What We Do
Over the last few decades, the amount of rigorous research on effective interventions in education has grown tremendously. However, these efforts have focused almost exclusively on urban and suburban settings. There still isn’t enough evidence about what works in rural education.
Rural communities have unique challenges and assets, which is why our team and our district partners are focused on designing interventions and solutions tailored to their needs. We find out what works, test it in other settings, and share it with the field.
Focus Areas and Interventions
NCRERN has worked across three focus areas: attendance, postsecondary readiness, and postsecondary entry. Results for attendance interventions have been published, including an analysis of six pilots and the role of the continuous improvement process in shaping these pilots, while results for the postsecondary readiness and transitions pilots are forthcoming.
Below, click to expand and learn more about the interventions NCRERN has tested.
Attendance Interventions
Personalized Messaging is designed to inform caregivers of their student’s absences and provide them with information on how to contact the school if they need support to address barriers to their child’s attendance. District staff send personalized texts, emails, and/or calls to caregivers every 4–6 weeks with information about students’ attendance, a goal for attendance, and an invitation to connect with the school to discuss the student’s attendance and strategies for reducing absences.
Mentoring is designed to build relationships between school staff and students to build students’ connection to school, collaboratively problem-solve reasons for absences, and identify and support access to resources. Students with higher prior-year absences meet weekly with a mentor to set goals, problem-solve challenges, review progress, and celebrate success. Students and mentors—who are teachers, counselors, or administrators—work together to set short- and long-term goals and agree on incentives for goal attainment.
Postcards are designed to inform caregivers of their student’s absences and help them understand the connection between school attendance and learning. District staff send digital or paper postcards to families whose student was absent in the preceding week. Postcards include the class content missed, the student’s total absences in the quarter, a graphic showing the implications of absences, and a phone number to contact the school to discuss further.
Family Engagement is intended to build positive relationships between school staff and caregivers by providing a range of information and opening up lines of communication for collaborative problem solving. Caregivers of students with high prior-year absences receive a mix of three types of weekly messages: a) informational (e.g., relevant school or class updates such as field trips or testing dates); b) individualized (e.g., student-specific attendance, discipline, or achievement information; collaborative problem-solving or celebration with caregivers); and c) pro-tips (e.g., resources, suggestions for at-home learning activities, and questions about students’ interests). The messages are positive, supportive, and encourage bidirectional communication.
Postsecondary Readiness Interventions
Career Exposure is intended to introduce students to a variety of career pathways and help them understand the connection between school performance and their future paths. District staff invite community members to the school to share their career journey with students and draw connections between skills and content they learned in high school and their career trajectories. Presentations are reinforced by school staff, student reflections, and a strengths/career finder assessment.
Some districts choose to identify career clusters of interest to students (e.g., hospitality, human services, public safety, or manufacturing), and reach out to speakers who align with these clusters. Other districts focus on exposing students to a breadth of options available in the community by partnering with their local chamber of commerce, union organizations, law enforcement, or career centers.
Student Success Planning is designed to provide students with a greater awareness of available opportunities after graduation, help them recognize the connection between their academic performance and future goals, and boost academic motivation and optimism about the future. School staff meet with students individually or in small groups at least quarterly to discuss career goals, interests, and support needs and to help students with course selection, exploring postsecondary plans, and other postsecondary readiness needs (such as applying for jobs, or preparing for the ACT/SAT or ASVAB).
“What’s Your Path?” is an adaptation of the Student Success Planning intervention for implementation in a classroom setting. WYP aims to provide students with relevant information about postsecondary options, nurture goal-setting habits, and encourage reflection on skills and interests.Ninth grade students engage in postsecondary pathway exploration through 13 video lessons that expose students to various postsecondary options upon graduating high school. Students engage in activities to help identify their interests, skills, and reflect on how their skills and interests align with various careers and learn about different pathway options available, including 2- and 4-year colleges, the military, and the workforce.
Postsecondary Entry Interventions
The Postsecondary Entry Checklist intervention is designed to ease high school seniors’ transition from high school to the postsecondary pathways of their choice. The Checklist outlines the key milestones or steps necessary for 12th grade students to complete in order to successfully transition to four postsecondary pathways: 4-year college, 2-year college, workforce, and military.
The underlying theory of change for the Checklist posits that by (1) providing 12th grade students with transparent information about the steps they need to complete to enter their pathway of choice, (2) proactively offering opportunities and supports for students to complete those steps, (3) consistently monitoring and reviewing students’ progress in completing these crucial milestones, and (4) intervening when students are at risk or off-track in reaching these milestones, students will be better informed and take greater ownership of the necessary steps to transition into their chosen postsecondary path, increasing their likelihood a successful transition.