Report: A Legacy of Leadership and Lessons Learned: Results from the Rural Systemic Initiatives for Improving Mathematics and Science Education is now available. Read it now.

Improving education in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (often referred to as STEM) has been identified by policymakers as a vital part of keeping the United States competitive in an increasingly global economy. A new report produced by Edvantia for the National Science Foundation (NSF) offers insights into the systemic improvement of mathematics and science education in rural areas. The report examines the results of exemplar NSF-funded Rural Systemic Initiatives and presents 22 lessons learned.

Webinar: This webinar presented highlights from the report, followed by a panel discussion among several RSI directors who have firsthand experience in addressing the unique challenges of improving education in rural places.

Presenters:
Dr. Keith Smith, Director, Coalfield RSI, Edvantia
Dr. Jody Chase, RSI Program Director, Naitonal Science Foundation
Dr. Hobart Harmon, Rural Education Specialist and author of a new report on the legacy of the Rural Systemic Initiatives

Panelists:
Dr. Wimberly Royster, Principal Investigator, Appalachian RSI
Ms. Judy Kelley, Executive Director, Texas RSI
Dr. Ray Barnhardt, Codirector, Alaska RSI (presenting on Dr. Barnhardt's behalf is Dr. Stephen Henderson, former Project Director, Appalachian RSI)
Mr. Gene Wilhoit, Executive Director, Council of Chief State School Officers and former Kentucky Commissioner of Education

What you'll learn. A common challenge is figuring out how a small school district staff can substantially change educational practices in sparsely populated and/or poverty-stricken areas. No two RSIs followed exactly the same path to success. However, building the capacity of local educators and expanding their networks to overcome rural isolation were essential to the strategies of these successful RSI directors.

• Overcoming common rural challenges. Find out how these innovative leaders built strong math and science programs in the face of underfunding, elevated transportation costs, and outdated facilities.
  
• Using RSI models for improving rural math and science education. RSI models and methods varied from location to location, but all found ways to successfully develop leadership capacity, build support for program improvement, and leverage the successes of other NSF programs or initiatives.
  
• Sustaining systemic improvements. After 14 years, the last of the NSF Rural Systemic Initiatives will end in early 2008. Panelists will discuss what can be done to sustain the educational improvements made through these initiatives.
  
• Putting the “lessons learned” to good use outside the RSI network. RSI directors learned many lessons through their work. This webinar, and the report on which it is based, presents hard-earned insights into the realities of changing educational practices in rural schools.

Special thanks to CCSSO. Edvantia appreciates the assistance of the Council of Chief State School Officers in making this webinar accessible to a wide audience of educators, policymakers, and media representatives.

The webinar moderator, Dr. Keith Smith, is the director of the Coalfield Rural Systemic Initiative, which works to improve math and science education in 18 rural school districts. Before joining the Edvantia staff, Dr. Smith worked at the West Virginia Department of Education, where he served as assistant state superintendent for instructional services and had primary responsibility for leading the improvement of academic instructional programs, special education, the state testing program, school counseling programs, and educational programs in institutional settings. Dr. Smith has also been a county guidance director, a guidance counselor, and a biology teacher. He holds a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University with a major in guidance and a second field in educational change.

Dr. Hobart Harmon is one of the nation's leading experts on public education in rural America. Formerly director of the National Rural Education Specialty and associate director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, Dr. Harmon is a private consultant and also an adjunct associate professor of education at Penn State, affiliated with its Center on Rural Education and Communities.

Dr. Wimberly Royster is the principal investigator for the Appalachian RSI and vice president of the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation. He was the University of Kentucky’s first vice president for research and graduate studies. At the University of Kentucky, he chaired the mathematics department before becoming the director of the School of Mathematical Sciences, then dean of the College of Sciences and later dean of the Graduate School and vice chancellor for research. Under his leadership, the mathematics department became one of the university’s most distinguished research and graduate education programs.

Judy Kelley has served as the executive project director of the Rural Systemic Initiatives in Texas and guided efforts to improve mathematics and science education in 88 participating rural school districts that serve approximately 91,000 students, of which 64% are economically disadvantaged, 54% are Hispanic, and 9% are African American. At West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, Ms. Kelley now serves as the associate director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station Regional Division and the Lead Associate of the West Texas Office of Evaluation and Research. She has received awards for her leadership in mathematics and science education from the Texas Council of Teachers of Mathematics and The Texas A&M University System.

Dr. Ray Barnhardt is codirector of the Alaska RSI. He is a professor of cross-cultural studies at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he has been involved in teaching and research related to Native education issues since 1970. Over the past 35 years, he has also served as the director of the Cross-Cultural Education Development Program, the Small High Schools Project, the Center for Cross-Cultural Studies, and the Alaska Native Knowledge Network. His research interests include Indigenous knowledge systems, Native teacher education, distance/distributed/higher education, small school curriculum, and institutional adaptations to rural and cross-cultural settings.

Gene Wilhoit is the executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). He has served as the commissioner of education in Kentucky and was the director of the Arkansas Department of Education. In those positions, he shepherded finance reform, led equity initiatives, designed and implemented assessment and accountability systems, advanced nationally recognized preschool and technology programs, and reorganized state agencies to focus on service and support.