Our Research

Our Research

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. Rural communities have unique challenges and assets. There still isn’t enough evidence about what works in rural education. 

By establishing a network of rural partners working through similar challenges, NCRERN conducts rural research that overcomes sample size challenges, reduces costs, and enables partners to share and benefit from one another’s insights and experiences in order to rapidly identify solutions that work for students and families.

Books on a shelf

NCRERN's Model

Postsecondary Readiness and Entry

Attendance

Resource: Improving Attendance with Personalized Messages

This How-To Guide is designed for school staff who want to implement a personalized messaging intervention to improve student attendance. Personalized messages—sent via email, text message, robocall, or letters by mail—are a low-effort, low-cost strategy designed to improve attendance by providing families and caregivers with transparent, real-time information about their student’s cumulative absences each month. During the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, NCRERN partnered with 47 rural districts in 16 states across the United States to study personalized messaging in grades K-12. We found personalized messaging to be an effective and low-cost intervention. Over the course of an academic year, personalized messaging decreased absences by between 1.7% and 4.4% in participating districts and cost roughly $4.00 per student.

Download the Personalized Messaging How-To Guide
personalized messaging guide

Navigating COVID-19

Research Clearinghouse

NCRERN conducted a systematic review to better understand the current state of the descriptive and causal research on attendance and postsecondary entry in rural settings.

Access the Attendance Research Clearinghouse Access the Postsecondary Research Clearinghouse

Rural Collaboratives

NCRERN is partnering with Empower Schools to support research on the effectiveness of Rural Collaboratives in improving postsecondary success for underserved rural students.

Learn about Rural Collaboratives Research

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