The Rural Education Network is a group of education leaders from throughout Tennessee and the nation that is committed to improving public education in rural communities. The network helps identify, spread, and share best practices in rural education, fosters learning among network members, and provides SCORE with policy direction on rural education issues.
Rural schools face different and unique challenges than their urban and suburban counterparts. Obstacles are magnified in the teacher pipeline, college-going and completion rates are lower, and, although they are less diverse, they are home to growing Hispanic and ELL populations, to name a few. Although SCORE has witnessed many innovative practices in our rural communities to combat these challenges – including targeting compensation to those teachers that are providing their students with excellent instruction and forming robust partnerships between K-12 and postsecondary pathways – rural educators are geographically isolated and thus have fewer opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaboration.
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Read Transforming the Rural South: A Roadmap to Improving Rural Education, which identifies 34 specific recommendations to improve rural education. An important priority for the Network will be sharing their work that is aligned with this report to a broad group of rural educators. |  |
Read Towns need great schools to compete by SCORE President and CEO Jamie Woodson on the importance of improving education in rural communities. |
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Read about rural education on The SCORE Sheet blog |  |
View pictures from the 2011 Southeastern Regional Rural Education Summit |
Network Members:
- Dr. Pat Ashley, Executive Director, District and School Transformation, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
- Dr. Lionel “Bo” Beaulieu, Director, Southern Rural Development Center
- Dr. William Bibb, Superintendent, Tipton County Schools (2012 SCORE Prize finalist)
- Nancy Boyd, Regional Coordinator, West TN, STEP
- Sue Brown, Federal Programs Director, Rhea County Schools
- Sharon Coker, 3rd grade teacher, Pigeon Forge Primary (2012 SCORE Prize finalist)
- David Cook, Director of Innovation and Partner Engagement, Kentucky Department of Education
- Jennifer Donald, Principal, Fayette-Ware Comprehensive High School (2012 SCORE Prize finalist)
- Anne Foster, Executive Director, Parents for Public Schools
- Dreama Gentry, Director, Externally Sponsored Programs, Berea College
- Cheryl Green, Consultant, Insight Education Group, Inc.
- Dr. Alfred Hall, Director, West Tennessee STEM Collaboratory
- Dr. Mary Lee Hall, Dean, College of Education, Health, and Behavioral Sciences, University of Tennessee Martin
- Lisa Hankins, REDI Director, Southwest Tennessee Development District
- Marlon Heaston, Algebra I teacher, Covington High School, Tipton County Schools (2012 SCORE Prize winner)
- Linda Irwin, Director of School Partnerships, Niswonger Foundation
- Malissa Johnson, Principal, Charlotte Elementary (2011 SCORE Prize finalist)
- Marty Johnson, Principal, South Side Elementary (2012 SCORE Prize finalist)
- Dr. W. Hal Knight, Dean, College of Education, East Tennessee State University
- Dr. Gina Kunz, National Center for Research on Rural Education
- Terry Lashley, Executive Director, SouthEast Educational, Inc.
- Bobbi Lussier, Assistant Commissioner, School Readiness and Early Learning, Tennessee Department of Education
- Dr. Dale Lynch, Superintendent, Hamblen County Schools (2012 SCORE Prize winner)
- Robert Mahaffey, Director of Communications and Marketing, Rural School and Community Trust
- Joshua Mason, Director, Secondary Education, Dickson County Schools
- Jan McKeel, Executive Director, South Central Tennessee Workforce Alliance
- Dr. Candice McQueen, Dean, College of Education, Lipscomb University
- Dr. Vicki Metzgar, Director, Middle Tennessee STEM Innovation Hub
- Peggy Murdock, Principal, Covington High School, Tipton County Schools (2012 SCORE Prize winner)
- Robyn Oatley, Educational Consultant, Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence
- Thomas Rains, Policy Director, A+ Education Partnership
- Dr. Jack Rhoton, Director, East Tennessee State University Northeast STEM Innovation Hub
- Marilyn Roddy, Director, STEMspark East Tennessee STEM Hub
- Dr. Linda Stroud, Director of Schools, Greeneville City Schools
- Autumn Tooms Cypres, Director, Center for Educational Leadership, University of Tennessee Knoxville
- Jason Vance, Director of Schools, Loudon County Schools (2011 SCORE Prize finalist)
- Nancye Williams, Principal, Pigeon Forge Primary (2012 SCORE Prize finalist)
- Mark Willoughby, Director of Schools, DeKalb County Schools
- Joe Wood, Senior Director, Client Engagement, Battelle for Kids
For more information about the Rural Education Network, please contact Laura Moore at laura@tnscore.org or (615) 727-1545.