#  NCRERN Newsletter: Fall 2021 

 





November 23, 2021

 

 

 We hope you are doing well! As the pandemic continues to impact schools across the country, we remain grateful for our district partnerships that make our work possible. In this newsletter, we’ll share updates on NCRERN’s work in attendance, postsecondary readiness and enrollment; resources on postsecondary enrollment; and a new educational opportunity for rural educators.

 **Attendance**

 Last spring, we shared the results of the four 20-21 attendance pilots, the first (to our knowledge) impact evaluations of attendance interventions conducted in rural settings. We found that one intervention, personalized messaging, was effective in reducing absences. Now we are in full swing of acting on these results. This year, several districts are scaling up personalized messaging to all students in their district. Nine districts are modifying and repiloting postcards and family engagement—stay tuned for updated results this summer! Finally, we are sharing our findings with a broader audience. This month, we presented NCRERN’s attendance findings at the [National Forum to Advance Rural Education](https://www.nrea.net/2021-Convention-Research-Symposium), and in the coming months, we will publish briefs summarizing our work on attendance.

 **Postsecondary Readiness**

 This fall, districts launched two postsecondary readiness interventions: student success planning and career exposure. In student success planning, students meet one-on-one or in small groups with a staff member on a quarterly basis to set and pursue short- and long-term academic and career goals. In career exposure, students hear from monthly speakers about different career paths and reflect on their interest in the career presented and their own career goals. This quarter, we feature District Spotlights from Edison Local School District (OH) and Cato-Meridian Central School District (NY) in which they share why they chose their intervention and their lessons learned so far.

  Throughout the year, NCRERN is hosting small group check-ins in which districts can reflect on progress, celebrate accomplishments, and problem solve. NCRERN will also conduct interviews and focus groups with students and staff from eight districts. Insights from these site visits and other implementation data will be shared during the January Mid-Year Implementation Reflection meeting. In June, we’ll share results on the interventions’ impact on students’ grades and career goals and knowledge, as well as qualitative results from the site visits.

 **Postsecondary Enrollment**

 NCRERN will launch its final content area, postsecondary enrollment, this spring at Convening in March. Nationwide, [postsecondary enrollment has dropped 5.8 percent](https://nscresearchcenter.org/stay-informed/) since Fall 2019, with particularly large drops in public 2-year college enrollment. This drives home that it is more important than ever to provide robust guidance and support to students for their next steps after high school graduation. Because this topic is so important and timely, our resources focus on postsecondary enrollment. We also highlight a new opportunity from the Harvard Graduate School of Education for rural educators to complete an online Master’s in Education Leadership with financial support.

 We hope that you will engage with NCRERN by visiting our website at [www.ncrern.provingground.cepr.harvard.edu](http://www.ncrern.provingground.cepr.harvard.edu/), reaching out to us at [NCRERN@gse.harvard.edu,](mailto:NCRERN@gse.harvard.edu) or forwarding this newsletter to someone interested in rural education.  
  
With warm regards,  
Jenn

####  [Read the full newsletter](https://mailchi.mp/7ffd7dfd6ce9/ncrern-fall-2021-newsletter-7093695).



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Newsletters ](/news/newsletters)
- [ 2021 ](/news-year/2021)
 
 

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