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Every highly productive rural school system has found its own way to success

In interviews the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University conducted with leaders of outlier rural districts 鈥� those where student outcomes exceeded predictions 鈥� we found each rural district had its own story. What was clear was that every highly productive rural school system has found its own way to success, rooted in its own unique local context, with its own mix of variables that may contribute to its secret productivity sauce. Here are excerpts of what we heard from three representative superintendents.

Bret Miles, Superintendent in Holyoke, Colo., 2009-2015

Located 13 miles from the Nebraska border in Colorado鈥檚 far northeast corner, Holyoke is a predominantly agricultural community with about 600 students in K-12. The community is home to Seaboard Farms, a large hog production corporation.

鈥淚 grew up in Holyoke and graduated from the local high school. 鈥� When I came in as superintendent, the school board had identified two main problems 鈥� low levels of teacher buy-in and declining community support.

鈥淲ithin the district, we built a Standard of Excellence Team comprised of teachers, parents and business leaders to analyze student achievement, set goals and get community buy-in. 鈥� It鈥檚 this kind of genuine accountability that comes in a small rural district that isn鈥檛 understood in the bigger picture of the accountability movement. 鈥︹�淲ith our budget crunch we had to reduce personnel, fortunately mostly through attrition. We don鈥檛 have teacher aides for extra classroom support anymore. 鈥� Our base salary hadn鈥檛 changed in 10 years. That鈥檚 not good, but it鈥檚 our reality. We鈥檝e just asked teachers to take on more. But our leadership team is a teacher team. Teachers feel valued. Some 90 percent of our teachers say they feel the district is moving in the right direction and they feel supported. 鈥�

鈥淢aintaining that positive climate is an important part of every decision. We go to the teachers to make sure they can get on board with every strategy we implement. 鈥� We鈥檝e changed our curriculum, grading policies and technology expectations. We鈥檝e been recognized for closing our socio-economic achievement gap. Some 44 percent of students are Latino and about a quarter are English language learners, some 50 percent are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. This was possible only because of the high staff buy-in. With just 50 teachers, we can really make sure we communicate with and hear from everyone.鈥�

Pam Kruse, Superintendent in Mason, Texas, 2009-present

On the western side of Hill Country by the scenic Llano River, Mason (population 2,200) sits in one of the state鈥檚 most rural counties, where farms and ranches dominate. About 700 students are enrolled in the district.

鈥淚鈥檝e worked in Mason schools for 28 years. 鈥� Our teachers are very involved in individual students鈥� learning so they know what each of them needs. And we鈥檝e really set up our district so that no student can just fall through the cracks.

鈥淥n Fridays, we have 鈥榩rime time鈥� that provides remediation in each subject for the elementary grades. 鈥� In January, we give our benchmark for the tests in the spring. If we see kids who have trouble, we put them into a tutorial group. In junior high and high school, at every level we have remediation built into the schedule. 鈥�

鈥淲e spend at least 90 percent of our budget on staff. Of the federal money we receive, approximately 98 percent of that goes to salaries. Our philosophy is the more staff we have, the better off the kids are. 鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to upgrade all of our facilities, but mostly that鈥檚 an area where we鈥檝e done without because we wanted to focus on instruction. We have a 1952 school building for preK-8 and a 1976 building for our high school. 鈥� There鈥檚 not a lot of money here and not a lot of ways to make money here.

鈥淏ut my teachers go the extra mile 鈥� I have teachers who come up here at 7 in the morning and who are here at 6 at night to tutor the kids. 鈥� I鈥檝e had teachers from other districts say to me that there鈥檚 just no place like Mason where everyone cares so very much about the kids. I can鈥檛 take credit for that. That has always been a part of Mason.鈥�

Mark Platt, Superintendent in Hart, Mich., 2013-present

About six miles inland from Lake Michigan, Hart sits in an agricultural zone with several fruit and vegetable processing operations. One of the county鈥檚 top employers is the world鈥檚 largest maraschino cherry producer. Tourists come for beaches and looming sand dunes. The district enrolls about 1,300.

鈥淏efore I became superintendent, our district had purposely closed outlying schools and created a central campus. 鈥� The first thing we did when I took over 鈥� was start to better manage the things we had control over. We have one campus with four buildings, an early childhood center plus elementary, middle and high school. We have one bus run, with everyone on it from K-12. We鈥檝e saved a lot of money.

鈥淭hose savings let us invest in a consistent, quality elementary school literacy program and every teacher gets trained in it. ... And we鈥檝e invested heavily in leadership. It鈥檚 very important to me that the principals and I be the educational leaders. I don鈥檛 spend a ton of time on finances; I have a finance director. 鈥�

鈥淥f course, there鈥檚 value in sending teachers to training, but the staff members I have the greatest return on are my principals. 鈥� Because they are educational leaders, they can create great PD in their own building that鈥檚 responsive to their school鈥檚 specific needs. 鈥� We鈥檙e the only district in our state where all of our principals have gone through a 10-month Leadership Matters specialty endorsement program. It focuses on coaching, collaboration, reflection, courage, intentionality and technology.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a lot of discretionary money, but when we do have extra dollars to spend, it鈥檚 almost always on instruction. We just used general fund dollars for a one-to-one Chromebook program in our secondary school. 鈥� We wanted to give kids greater access to broader course offerings through the Internet.鈥�