As the official journal of the National Rural Education Association, The Rural Educator serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas among the rural education community. The journal aims to provide a greater understanding of the strengths and needs of rural education and to provide rural educators with resources that support their work.
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Current Issue: Volume 47, Number 3 (2026)
Research Articles
Bullying Prevalence and Persistence in Rural and Urban Settings
Eric Landers, Juliann Sergi McBrayer, Monika Krah, and Meredith A. Rausch
Redefining Rural: A Strengths-Based Framework for Enhancing Educational Policy and Practice
Dawn A. Rowe, Michele A. Schutz, Hilary E. Travers, and Jon Borland
Barriers and Solutions to Effective Mental Health Services in Rural Schools: A Delphi Study
Rawn Boulden and Anna Simmons
Resourcefulness, Ingenuity, and Community Strengths in Meeting Rural Youth Mental Health Needs: A Multiple Case Study
Aaron Leo, Jessie Tobin, Paul Guay, and Kristen Campbell Wilcox
Challenges and Opportunities in Rural Education: The Case of La Araucanía, Chile
Katerin Arias-Ortega and Viviana Villarroel
Who Gets Closed? Twenty Years of Access-Restricting School Closures in Arkansas
Mara C. Tieken and Christine Murray
Promising Practice Article
Invited Article
Updates to the Definition of Rural
Daniel Showalter
The closed Lake View school in Lake View, Arkansas. In 1994, the Lake View School District won an Arkansas Supreme Court case contesting the state’s funding formula; the state forced the district’s consolidation in 2004, and its school was closed. Photo courtesy of Mara C. Tieken.