Rural Schools reveals a dramatic increase of minorities and overall enrollment growth.

A report issued by the Rural School and Community Trust (Rural Trust) uncovered new trends and challenges facing rural educators. Overall, enrollment in rural schools is up by 15%-a reversal of the year-over-year declines seen in these
communities. While overall enrollment is on the rise, the most startling data revealed in Why Rural Matters 2007: The Realities of Rural Education Growth, is the 55% increase in rural minority students, with some states experiencing increases of more than 100%. The report is a reminder that rural schools continue to face a number of challenges: high poverty levels, low student achievement, low teacher salaries, and uneven distribution of Title I funds.

The report’s priority states, located in four regions (Southwest, Southeast, Mid-South Delta, and Appalachia) serve student populations with the severest socioeconomic challenges-especially high poverty levels-and they operate with less money than rural schools in other states.

Specific findings and trends discussed in Why Rural Matters 2007 include:

— The rural English Language Learner (ELL) enrollment in the U.S. has increased dramatically, more than doubling in the 15-year period between 1989-90 and 2004-05-a rate of increase more than seven times higher than the rate of increase for total student enrollment.

— Nearly 50% of all ELL students live in rural communities in the Southeast, where states are ill-equipped to serve them and where schools face some of the most severe socioeconomic challenges.

— Rural graduation rates are below 70% in ten states, mostly in the Southeast.

— Recruiting and retaining high quality teachers is an acute challenge for rural schools. Teacher salaries are lowest in the 13 states through the nation’s heartland.

— Between 2002-03 and 2004-05, enrollment in schools located in communities of fewer than 2,500 increased by 1,339,000 (or 15%).

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