Living Up to Expectations: How High Standards Impact Student Achievement in Rural Ohio BY TOM BAILEY, ED.D.
I
n 2017, after living for 48 years in the suburbs of a large US city, I accepted a job in rural Ohio to become a superintendent. So we packed up part of our family to head to a sparsely populated county to begin the next chapter of our lives. Even though I was still in the state I lived my whole life and we were only 90 miles from the suburbia that I was familiar with, I was intrigued by the differences that rural communities and rural education presented to me in those first few weeks. When I arrived at my first superintendent assignment I had already completed all my coursework for my doctoral degree and I was well into chapter two of my dissertation. I loved researching and writing about school culture, however, I felt the need to take those cultural pieces of my research and start over again. This time to focus on rural education in Ohio. The importance of education in rural America can be considered the backbone to the survival of those that live in these rural and small town areas. Of the 609 school districts in Ohio, 231 are considered rural and another 200 are small town districts, many of those in rural areas. While these rural and small town districts comprise 70% of the districts in Ohio, the enrollment at these schools accounts for only 40% of the student population state-wide (Ohio Department of Education, 2013). Ohio, along with the states of Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia, serve more than one-fourth of all rural students in the country (Johnson, Showalter, Klein, Lester, 2014). Success in high-performing, high-needs rural schools was studied by Barley and Beesley and the perceived factors that led to success included high expectations for all students (2007). In fact, having high expectations for students was reported by more principals in the study than any other factor. With an ever-changing landscape in education and advancement of future-ready careers, the expectations are that rural education and student learning must also advance. Rural America cannot neglect
10
principal navigator
the changes that are taking place in careers, job opportunities, and technology; thus, rural America cannot neglect the changes needed in education to meet these new needs. In order for rural students to compete in a global market, rural education must keep pace with urban and suburban students. Teacher expectations of student academic growth must be consistent with those of urban and suburban counterparts. There are several implications that came to light based upon the research of Balfour, Mitchell, and Moletsane. The most significant is the concept of truly preparing educators with the knowledge they need to successfully teach in a rural environment. Gruenewald (2003) suggests place-conscious pedagogy enhances rural schools because learning becomes more relevant to the lived experience of students. This would allow programs for teacher preparation to provide placesensitive orientation for teachers specifically in rural areas. This also could provide opportunity for interdisciplinary dialogue within the context of rurality. This interdisciplinary dialogue could take place with people in the field of medicine, social services, government, or safety. These discussions could lead to more production by these very entities in rural areas. Factors that highly affect rural education to a high degree are poverty, rural “brain drain,” teacher expectation, and self-fulfilling prophecy. Rural areas are more likely than metropolitan areas to experience higher rates of poverty, concentrated poverty, and generational poverty (Lichter & Graefe, 2011). Generational poverty is a major factor affecting the Appalachian, southeast region of Ohio. Ladd & Pascal state “many families face ongoing crises with housing, food insecurity, custody issues, and alcohol and drug addiction” (2019). They go on to state that “students facing these circumstances lack hope for the future, become disengaged, and feel discouraged. This leads still further to students becoming depressed, angry, and in some cases, suicidal” (2019).
