Volume 14, Issue 2 (2019) Building Capacity for Leadership and Social Change in Rural PK-12 Settings

Rural schools face many challenges. As Hill (2014) discusses, reduction in funding due to fluctuations in enrollment and a declining tax base, reluctance to meet the needs of second language learners, and the inability to attract and retain new educators are a few such challenges. More importantly, while a vast majority of Texas schools are rural, there is a lack of empirical research guiding leadership in rural schools.

Within the last 10 years, the topic of job-embedded professional development for educators has expanded considerably. The focus of research has shifted from general aspects of professional development to more specific applications related to stakeholder outcomes, other than student achievement. What seems to be lacking is research focused on combining best or emerging practices and/or models of professional development addressing rural PK-12 settings.

Finally, Texas schools are becoming increasingly more diverse. Within the construct of racial and ethnic distributions, minorities are the most underrepresented ethnic groups in the state, despite the fact that Texas does not have a clear ethnic majority. The facts are further exacerbated when examining the overrepresentation of ethnic groups in discipline, special education, and an underrepresentation in gifted and talented and higher-level courses.

Therefore, the purpose of this special edition is to inform practitioners in Texas and beyond as they address improving leadership capacity, building educator capacity and impacting social change inherent to practice in rural PK-12 settings.