So that is probably one of the largest challenges right now. I'm not saying it's not an urban issue as well because there are some communities that don't have strong access even in the middle of cities but that issue tends to be even more pronounced in rural areas.Īnd so as schools have gone remote in the spring and now some continue to be or we've got some families that are keeping their children at home and educating them remotely, they just might not have access. We know that many rural areas don't have the same kind of internet access, the same kind of broadband access, as many of our urban and suburban areas do. Mara Tieken: The one that has actually gotten a little bit more attention is the digital divide. Jill Anderson: I mean, what are some of the unique challenges facing rural schools right now in the pandemic? Mara Tieken: Most of the attention has been on particularly large urban districts but 15% of our students are rural and they've been left out of this conversation. We don't often hear about rural schools so I asked Mara, why they are so often left out of the national conversation. She's an associate professor at Bates College who has long studied rural schools and is trying to help many rural districts cope with the pandemic as cases continue to rise. Mara Tieken says that is the reality for many rural students in America and COVID-19 hasn't made it any easier. Imagine spending two hours driving just to get to school or heading to a McDonald's parking lot to access the internet for a day of remote learning. Learn about the Rural Community Resource Hub.
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In this episode, Tieken talks about some of the ways rural schools are getting through the pandemic and ideas on how to include rural schools in the national conversation. Mara Tieken, Ed.M.'06, Ed.D.'11, associate professor at Bates College, is an expert on rural schools and has been helping many rural school districts cope throughout the pandemic. It seems this population is often left out of national conversations about the impact of COVID on education.
We don't often hear about the 15% of students who attend rural schools.