Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Schools

Overview of Alternative Schools and Education Programs
Analyzes data from 28 alternative education programs, including 16 programs located in rural Montana communities. Defines an alternative education program, from the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI), as a restructured academic program operating within an accredited public school to serve at-risk students. Provides information on student characteristics and alternative school services. Covers three local model programs that work to address the behavioral and mental health, substance abuse treatment, and counseling needs of students.
Additional links: Health Brief
Author(s): Katie Loveland, Aaron Wernham
Date: 03/2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Montana Healthcare Foundation
view details
Disparities Persist in Nutrition Policies and Practices in Minnesota Secondary Schools
Examines school nutrition policies and practices by school characteristics in Minnesota secondary schools between 2008 and 2012. Compares school nutrition policies by rural versus urban/suburban location and across three main areas: the availability of low-nutrient, energy dense (LNED) items, strategies to engage students in healthy eating, and restrictions on advertising LNED products around the school.
Author(s): Caitlin Eicher Caspi, Cynthia Davey, Toben F. Nelson, et al.
Citation: Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 115(3), 419–425
Date: 03/2015
Type: Document
view details
Telemedicine for Children with Developmental Disabilities: A More Effective Clinical Process than Office-based Care
Examines the Tele-Health-Kids, a school-based program using asynchronous telemedicine to connect children with developmental disabilities with their primary care physician for the treatment of minor illnesses in rural Ohio. Includes data on the chronic conditions of children with developmental disabilities enrolled in the program and survey responses from parents on the expectations, concerns, and post-visit outcomes for the Tele-Health-Kids program.
Author(s): Diane L. Langkamp, Mark D. McManus, Susan D. Blakemore
Citation: Telemedicine Journal and e-Health, 21(2), 110-114
Date: 02/2015
Type: Document
view details
Needs Assessment of School and Community Physical Activity Opportunities in Rural West Virginia: The McDowell CHOICES Planning Effort
Describes the McDowell Coordinated Health Opportunities Involving Communities, Environments, and Schools (CHOICES) program. McDowell CHOICES is a comprehensive needs-assessment of McDowell County, West Virginia, intended to increase opportunities for physical activity in rural schools and communities throughout the county.
Author(s): Alfgeir L. Kristjansson, Eloise Elliott, Sean Bulger, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 15, 327
Date: 2015
Type: Document
view details
Special Considerations for Mental Health Services in Rural Schools
Discusses the challenges experienced by rural and frontier schools regarding the development, implementation, and the expansion of behavioral health services for students and their families.
Author(s): Susan Wilger
Date: 2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details
Many Eligible Children Don't Participate in School Nutrition Programs: Reauthorization Offers Opportunities to Improve
Reports on rates of participation in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program, comparing rural, urban, and suburban eligible households. Discusses reauthorization of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 as an opportunity to expand participation in these programs generally and particularly for rural eligible children.
Author(s): Jessica A. Carson
Date: 2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
view details
Rural Communities: Best Practices and Promising Approaches for Safe Routes
Discusses the barriers to safe walking and biking to school in some rural communities. Describes how to successfully implement the Safe Routes to School approach in rural areas, with examples of successful programs.
Date: 2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Safe Routes to School National Partnership
view details
Rural Communities: Making Safe Routes Work
Describes the benefits of making walking and biking safer for rural children. Discusses implementing the Safe Routes to School approach in rural communities, with ideas for how to get started.
Date: 2015
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Safe Routes to School National Partnership
view details
Using a Participatory Research Approach in a School-Based Physical Activity Intervention to Prevent Diabetes in the Hualapai Indian Community, Arizona, 2002-2006
Results of a quantitative study in which 71 Native American youth in grades 3-8 participated in twice-weekly physical activity classes designed to reduce diabetes risk factors. Researchers compared participants' blood glucose levels and Body Mass Indexes at the beginning of the study with the same measures taken at the conclusion.
Author(s): Nicolette I. Teufel-Shone, Michelle Gamber, Helen Watahomigie, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 11
Date: 09/2014
Type: Document
view details
Perceived Reactions of Elementary School Students to Changes in School Lunches after Implementation of the United States Department of Agriculture's New Meals Standards: Minimal Backlash, but Rural and Socioeconomic Disparities Exist
Examines the perceptions from school staff regarding student reaction to changes in the school lunch menus, implemented in 2012 according to revised standards required by the USDA's National School Lunch Program. Includes rural versus urban location and socioeconomic data of students.
Author(s): Lindsey Turner, Frank J. Chaloupka
Citation: Childhood Obesity, 10(4), 349-356
Date: 08/2014
Type: Document
view details