Montana

Montana State University

The Center for Research on Rural Education at Montana State University hosts RSC’s Montana Hub. The Center is a national leader in teacher preparation, research, and support for rural education. Dr. Jayne Downey, Director for Montana State University’s Center for Research on Rural Education, will lead RSC’s Montana Hub.

Montana State University’s (MSU) Center for Research on Rural Education (CCRE) exists in full alignment with Montana State University’s land grant mission. The faculty and students in the Center for Research on Rural Education (CRRE) have been on a mission since 2015 to respond to the pressing concerns of small, rural, and remote schools and communities across Montana, the nation, and the world through carefully designed service and research. In 2025, the CCRE joined Rural Schools Collaborative’s Rural Educator Ecosystem: Community of Learners project, which connects and uplifts Rural Teacher Corps across RSC’s Regional Hub Network.

In Montana, 73.8% of Montana’s schools and 94.6% of districts are classified as “small rural” (Showalter et al., 2023). Therefore, the CRRE faculty and graduate students are committed to meeting the critical need for rigorous educational research and service to help rural schools and communities provide high-quality education for every child. A sampling of the programs which fulfill that mission are listed below.

• Rural Education Leadership at National and International Levels: CRRE Scholars and Affiliates have published numerous refereed articles, chapters, and books across a wide range of venues. They have presented our research in multiple national and international conferences focused on research, rural education, and teacher preparation, disseminating their experiences and research findings related to issues, challenges, and solutions in rural education. The CRRE is also becoming an internationally-recognized hub for global rural research collaboration as it engages in educational research partnerships in and for rural schools and communities around the world.

• Preparing Strong Rural Teachers: The Rural Teacher Pathways initiative is MSU’s longstanding and dynamic Rural Teacher Corps. Based upon research that identifies direct experiences in rural classrooms as a key to addressing the rural teaching shortage, this undergraduate program provides up to four in-person, clinical experiences that connect interested teachers to rural schools.

• Rural Service and Research for Montana: Montana State University is committed to engaging in context-specific rural educational service and research that is requested by and relevant to the lives of Montanan’s, their schools, and communities. The CRRE works in close collaboration with partners and stakeholders to deliver rural-attentive service and research in 3 primary grant-funded areas:
  • Strengthening rural students’ mental health and well-being with the school-based Youth Aware of Mental Health program.

  • Improving teacher preparation, recruitment, and retention by the Advancing Support, Preparation, & Innovation in Rural Education project.

  • Improving counselor preparation, recruitment, and retention through the Rural Mental Health Preparation Practice Pathway.