Schools and community development. Local leadership capacities. New technologies and increasing access to distance learning, telecommuting, and e-commerce show promise for changing power dynamics and providing new opportunities in distressed rural communities. Research to document the impacts of telecommunications technologies on poor rural communities and schools and on social structures and power relationships in RPP communities would be helpful. Case studies of communities where both new technologies and appropriate technologies have been used, as well as research on planning for and use of tomorrow's technologies in distressed rural communities, would inform future development.
Many critical gaps exist in research on policy.
Governmental policies needed to help facilitate change in one place can sometimes create barriers elsewhere. Policies developed from implicitly urban models may exacerbate rural challenges, as in the case of recent legislation to reduce class size through hiring new teachers. Such efforts can weaken the teaching force in RPP communities when experienced teachers take new jobs in less distressed communities. Current policies related to infrastructure development often do not adequately address biases against poor rural communities. Disenfranchisement creates particular policy challenges.