Things Here Are Different: Building Rural District Capacity (July 16, 2013)
Channel: AppalachiaRCC
Date: 2013-07-22

In this webinar, first in a series of three, veteran state education agency leaders and rural experts Hobart Harmon and Richard Layman discuss the unique issues confronted by rural districts (e.g., few management systems, limited fiscal capacity, little evaluation capacity, etc.) and how rural implementation of new initiatives might differ from non-rural implementation. In addition, the presenters examined several specific examples of capacity limitations that could influence implementation in rural districts (e.g., no funded position focused on data analysis, overburdened administrators, faculty recruitment and retention issues, etc.). The webinar established a foundation for the second in the series, which concentrates on how states can differentiate support to rural districts to enhance their capacity to execute initiatives successfully.