Colorado

Colorado Center for Rural Education

Our Colorado Hub partners at the Colorado Center for Rural Education facilitate a state-wide network of programs to recruit, prepare, place, and support educators for rural communities. Dr. Robert Fulton, Director of the center, serves as the hub contact for Colorado.

Based out of the University of Northern Colorado, partnership defines the Colorado Center for Rural Education (CCRE). Led by Dr. Robert Fulton, the CCRE partners with traditional higher education institutions and alternative programs throughout Colorado to recruit, prepare, place, and support educators for rural communities. The primary mechanism of support is through providing stipends to both pre-service and in-service teachers, which has been shown to significantly increase placement and retention rates in rural classrooms.

“The CCRE exists to help schools, districts, and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services recruit, prepare, and retain teachers and special services provider candidates–including career changers and practicing educators in rural Colorado” describes Dr. Robert Fulton, Director of the Colorado Center for Rural Education. Primarily, the CCRE supports the needs of rural educators in Colorado by:

• Expanding educator pathway programs

• Identifying and supporting rural teaching scholars

• Facilitating rural teacher leaders programs

• Developing professional networks for rural educators

• Cultivating rural education advocacy, scholarship, and grant writing

In addition to these general efforts, the Colorado Center for Rural Education facilitates the Colorado Rural Teaching Fellowship, which provides pre-service teachers with the opportunity to earn a $10,000 stipend for completing a year-long clinical experience in a rural school and teach rural for the two years following completion of their teacher preparation program. Moreover, the CCRE offers a wide array of stipends for rural educators, having given out over $5 million cumulatively. These stipends have been shown to dramatically improve placement and retention rates among rural educators: per an independent review in 2022 of their impacts, 85% of recipient teachers were shown to still be in their rural schools three years after receiving the stipend.

The Colorado Center for Rural Education stipends include:

• Colorado Rural [Student] Teacher Stipend

• National Board Certified Teacher Stipend

• Rural Alternative Licensure Stipend

• Rural Inservice Educator Stipend

• Special Services Provider Stipend