The National Center for Research on Rural Education (R²Ed) invites you to peruse the newest edition of the Rural360° – an electronic newsletter that aims to provide researchers, educators and community leaders with insights into the dedicated efforts of our personnel and collaborators throughout the United States.

Andrea Beesley serves as a senior director at McREL, where she conducts randomized controlled trials and researches issues related to rural schools. Prior to joining McREL, Beesley spent two years as a teacher, four years as a designer of distance learning programs, and one year working with rural schools on authentic mathematics activities. She has published articles in the Journal of Research in Rural Education, The Rural Educator and numerous other journals.

Dr. Beesley describes her introduction to rural education research, current research studies and the shifting realities of rural schools in this interview exclusive to the Rural360°.

Listen to Dr. Beesley's Interview

Dr. Andrea Beesley and colleagues sought to determine the rates of student mobility in five states: Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wyoming. The researchers compared student mobility across urban, suburban and rural settings, while also examining migration within the rural contexts of fringe, distant and remote locales.

This one-page digest explains the rationale behind the study and encapsulates its primary findings.

View Research Digest

The U.S. Department of Education has invited R²Ed researchers to conduct an upcoming webinar on family and community engagement initiatives that support student achievement and school improvement.

R²Ed Director Susan Sheridan and Project Manager Amanda Witte will present "Family-School Partnerships in Rural Schools: Engaging Families with Students Who Experience Academic, Behavioral, or Social/Emotional Challenges" May 21 at 2:30 p.m. CST. The R²Ed presentation will be part of a four-webinar series organized by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of School Turnaround.

Register for the Webinar

More details will follow at r2ed.unl.edu!

The National Center for Research on Rural Education (R²Ed) will assemble researchers, educational practitioners and policymakers from across the country to discuss the factors influencing rural K-12 students' academic achievement at a conference to be held April 4-5, 2013, in Omaha, Neb.

Titled Promoting Academic Success of Rural Students: Translating Research into Practice, the conference will foster dialogue about the interrelated impacts of teaching, parental involvement and school environment on rural students' performance. Participating practitioners and administrators will explore methods for incorporating researchers' recent findings into schools and educational policy.

Nebraska Commissioner of Education Roger Breed will provide the conference's keynote address. The conference will feature several moderated panel presentations, each of which will include representatives from the research, practice and policy communities. Small-group roundtable discussions will follow the presentations, giving attendees the opportunity to engage in dialogue while providing and receiving real-time reaction through a conference-specific Twitter feed.

R²Ed will provide further details in the following months. In the meantime, please mark your calendar and keep an eye on r2ed.unl.edu!

By studying the instruction and learning of K-12 students in rural communities, the National Center for Research on Rural Education strives to shape the future – and will soon join others intent on doing the same.

R²Ed will present its work to policymakers, administrators, researchers and community members from across Nebraska at the Rural Futures Conference, a gathering to be held May 8-10 in Lincoln, Neb.The conference derives its name from the Rural Futures Institute, a University of Nebraska collective that aims to assist rural Nebraska and the Great Plains in creating a resilient and sustainable future built upon a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

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