Why Rural Schools Matter

by Mara Casey Tieken

From headlines to documentaries, urban schools are at the center of current debates about education. From these accounts, one would never know that 51 million Americans live in rural communities and depend on their public schools to meet not only educational but also social and economic needs. For many communities, these schools are the ties that bind. Why Rural Schools Matter shares the untold story of rural education. Drawing upon extensive research in two southern towns, Mara Tieken exposes the complicated ways in which schools shape the racial dynamics of their towns and sustain the communities that surround them. The growing power of the state, however, brings the threat of rural school closure, which jeopardizes the education of children and the future of communities. With a nuanced understanding of the complicated relationship between communities and schools, Tieken warns us that current education policies--which narrow schools' purpose to academic achievement alone--endanger rural America and undermine the potential of a school, whether rural or urban, to sustain a community. Vividly demonstrating the effects of constricted definitions of public education in an era of economic turmoil and widening inequality, Tieken calls for a more contextual approach to education policymaking, involving both state and community.

Genres: Education

246 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2014

Reviews

[Meghan Moore-Hubbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect this sometimes repetitive mostly dry analysis of rural education to make me emotional but as I finished the epilogue I was crying like a baby. Nostalgic for my own high school-now consolidated, I was so grateful for this research and work that I wanted to make copies to distribute to every person I know. I feel motivated by & driven towards action at her words and I also long to know more.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're even remotely interested in the future of public education in the US, please read this.

[Christine Kinzfogl · Rating 4 out of 5]

great humanization of rural communities, and their relationship with their schools.
the author uses portraiture as her research method. painting a portrait of two different communities. she uses direct quotes from residents as often as possible, one way she attempts to remove her own biases. these portraits do an amazing job of not of “telling a story” or “crafting a narrative” but in the true sense of the word, painting a portrait of what living in these communities feel like and how the history of those communities and geographies shaped those feelings.

perhaps an unfair -1 star. i had to read for school and it wasn’t *exactly* a page turner, so i felt like i was pushing through (more than i would for a book i ranked 5 stars)