The Knowledge Base for Improving Policy and Practice: The Regional Laboratories Experience. The Knowledge Bases for Improving Rural Education: Their Needs Are Unique.

Several problems exist with the rural knowledge base as it is traditionally conceived: (1) there is no useful rural definition with the diverse rural reality; (2) rural is undervalued as reflected in teacher education and training and in the stereotyping of regions in the country; (3) issues of sparsity, scarcity and size are disregarded, and (4) the positive attributes already present in many rural schools are ignored. The type of education available in rural schools typify, on a small scale, the recommendations of effective schools research. Rural educators have experienced the limitations of the current knowledge base and rely on practice and experienced-based knowledge. New knowledge to improve practice comes from personal interactions with other rural educators rather than from research or outside resource persons. State departments of education establish monitoring and compliance relationships with rural schools, mirroring the larger society's undervaluing of rural education. They assume that rural schools are financially inefficient and educationally ineffective, although all state-wide test data proves contrary. New models for knowledge production and utilization are necessary for improving rural education. Three alternative models are: (1) clustering schools with similar interests to share programs, personnel and equipment; (2) sponsoring grassroots research on rural education and rural schools; and (3) creating Centers on Rural Education at colleges and universities. This document contains 22 references. (ALL)