Rural Schools and Health – Resources

Leveling the Playing Field for Rural Students
Provides a snapshot of rural schools and discusses the challenges they face. Challenges include how to provide new, high quality educational opportunities, health barriers that affect learning, providing career and technical education programs, food insecurity for rural children, and investments in rural schools.
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: School Superintendents Association, The Rural School and Community Trust
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Confronting Adverse Childhood Experiences to Improve Rural Kids' Lifelong Health
Highlights a western North Carolina school district and a Native American tribe in Wisconsin that are working to address adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Provides an overview of the impact ACEs have on health and provides data on ACE exposure among rural adults.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Issue Brief: Social Services
Discusses the types, prevalence, and the agencies providing social services in schools, with information on city, suburban, and rural schools. Includes data on mental health services, health services, and other types of supports.
Date: 07/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Education
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Most U.S. School Districts Have Low Access to School Counselors: Poor, Diverse, and City School Districts Exhibit Particularly High Student-to-Counselor Ratios
Examines trends in school counselor access. Discusses health-related roles counselors play, including meeting students' personal and social needs, supporting wellness programs, and advocating for students with disabilities. Includes data for rural areas.
Author(s): Douglas J. Gagnon, Marybeth J. Mattingly
Date: 10/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Carsey School of Public Policy
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Meeting the Needs of the Whole Child through CATCH
Highlights the implementation of the Coordinated Approach To Child Health (CATCH) program, which supports healthy eating and physical activity in rural Illinois elementary schools.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 04/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Rural Adults' Perspectives on School Food in a North Carolina County
Describes parents' and school staff's perceptions of school food in four rural North Carolina elementary schools, and their views about potential changes designed to enhance appeal of school meals containing more fruits and vegetables.
Author(s): Jayne K. Jeffries, Linden M. Thayer, Heidi Hennink-Kaminski, Seth M. Noar
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 12
Date: 04/2015
Type: Document
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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
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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
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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
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School Pulse Panel: Responses to the Pandemic and Efforts Toward Recovery
Provides interactive data regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on elementary, middle, high, and combined-grade public schools. Includes topics such as learning recovery, school facilities, staff vacancies, afterschool programs, food services, mental health, school crime and safety, and more. Allows user to view data by region, student demographics, and school location, level, or size.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Education Statistics
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