Rural Teacher Corps Community of Learners Welcomes Eight Programs

Officially launched in June 2025 at the RSC Hub Summit in Minneapolis, the Rural Teacher Corps Community of Learners is a three-year initiative supported by generous grants from the ECMC Foundation and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Designed to strengthen rural teacher pipelines through local partnerships and place-based strategies, the initiative brings together rural education leaders, teacher preparation programs, and philanthropic partners to support rural schools.

Rural Schools Collaborative is excited to welcome eight new programs to the Community of Learners. Clemson University and California State University, Chico, join as ‘Emerging’ programs, which have launched with dedicated staff or volunteer leadership, demonstrated supports for participants, and the capacity to work with RSC on tracking students and graduates.

RSC also welcomes six programs to a new level of participation as ‘Exploring’ programs, which are still in development, with initial planning and implementation underway. They are Arkansas Rural Community Alliance, the Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning at the University of Indianapolis, Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, North Dakota Small and Organized Schools, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia University.

Inspired by the innovative work of Missouri’s Ozarks Teacher Corps, Rural Schools Collaborative has provided more than $850,000 in planning grants to establish or strengthen rural teacher initiatives through this community.

Together, rural-serving organizations in the Community of Learners have three goals:

Engage Rural Teacher Corps stakeholders via convenings, site visits, and capacity-building grants to facilitate knowledge sharing, funding strategies, and best practices.
Bolster the rural teaching field through shared resources and storytelling.
In partnership with MDRC rural researchers, we’re creating a research and learning framework with Rural Teacher Corps programs to explore programmatic structures, build alumni tracking systems, and create recommendations for a future longitudinal research project.

As the Community of Learners continues, we are excited to bring these new groups into the network as they share their experience and learn from their peers. Our focus remains on deepening research, supporting differentiated engagement, and strengthening long-term sustainability. The work is still unfolding, but early learning suggests that intentional connection across Rural Teacher Corps programs can meaningfully strengthen the broader rural educator ecosystem. At its core, this initiative reflects a shared belief: supporting rural teachers is essential to sustaining vibrant rural communities.

These eight new programs join other Rural Teacher Corps from across the country:

Established

Emerging

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