Rural Educator Ecosystem: Community of Learners Launches at National Summit to Address Educator Shortage in Rural Communities

The launch of the Rural Educator Ecosystem: Community of Learners marked a key moment at this year’s Regional Hub Network Summit in Minneapolis, hosted by Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC). 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 in a shared effort to support rural schools.

Rural communities across the country are grappling with a significant educator shortage that threatens the vitality of local schools and the well-being of entire communities. The Community of Learners was created to meet this challenge and is supported by generous grants from ECMC Foundation and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.

The initiative officially kicked off at the Rural Schools Collaborative Hub Summit, which convened educators, researchers, leaders in philanthropy, and rural advocates from across the country in July. With uncertainty in the national education landscape, the Summit provided the opportunity to convene Rural Schools Collaborative’s diverse network of partners to share ideas, build relationships, and learn from one another in an inclusive and collaborative environment.

Leading the morning session, higher education leaders in the Community of Learners representing Montana State University, University of Arkansas, University of Wyoming, and The University of West Alabama shared successful models for rural teacher corps development in a panel discussion. This panel helped frame deep dive discussions on Rural Teacher Corps efforts to detail how their successful programs evolved and gained strength, built program sustainability, and fostered authentic community engagement.

The three-year Rural Educator Ecosystem: Community of Learners initiative emphasizes collaboration across geographies, with particular focus on supporting rural teacher candidates through Place-Based Education, mentorship, and targeted support systems. Programs in the Rural Teacher Corps Network, led by rural-serving institutions, offer models that leverage regional identity, culture, and community assets to recruit and retain educators who are both professionally prepared and personally invested to thrive in rural life.

The goals of the Community of Learners initiative are threefold:

1. Engage Rural Teacher Corps stakeholders via convenings, site visits, and capacity-building grants to facilitate knowledge sharing, funding strategies, and best practices for recruiting and retaining rural educators.

2. Bolster the rural teaching field through shared resources and storytelling. This project will invite additional participation from rural educators and community partners to strengthen the Rural Teacher Corps concept.

3. In partnership with MDRC rural researchers, co-create a research and learning framework with Rural Teacher Corps programs. This will explore programmatic structures, build alumni tracking systems, and create recommendations for a future longitudinal research project.

In the afternoon session of the Hub Summit, a panel of current teachers shared the impact that a strong rural teacher preparation programs can have on developing classroom teacher-leaders. Their discussions revealed common themes: rural teacher preparation must begin early, remain rooted in local context, and be supported by community partnerships and sustained investment. Each participating program reflects the unique needs of its region, but all are united in the belief that strong rural schools require intentional, locally designed strategies to build a homegrown teacher workforce.

Haley Sager, a kindergarten teacher and alumna of the Black Belt Rural Teacher Corps at the University of West Alabama, underscored this idea during a teacher panel at the Summit. Sager’s early placement in a rural community exposed her to the value of Place-Based Education, equipping her not only with classroom skills, but with the cultural and social grounding needed to thrive as a rural educator.

As the Hub Summit drew to a close, participants left energized by the ideas exchanged and the shared sense of purpose. From panel discussions to informal conversations, the event reinforced the value of cross-sector collaboration and the power of community-led efforts to address rural education challenges. With the launch of the Community of Learners, the Summit not only celebrated past successes but also set a clear course for collective action in the years ahead.

The Community of Learners includes Rural Teacher Corps programs from across the country: Morehead State University’s Appalachian Future Educators, University of Arkansas’ Arkansas Teacher Corps, University of West Alabama’s Black Belt Teacher Corps, Colorado Center for Rural Education, Montana State University’s Center for Research on Rural Education, Eastern Oregon University’s Oregon Rural Teacher Corps, Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Ozarks Teacher Corps, Monmouth College’s TARTANS Rural Teacher Corps, University of Wyoming’s Wyoming Rural Teacher Corps, University of Central Missouri’s Rural Schools Initiative, East Carolina University’s Rural Education Institute, Kansas State University’s ED ASTRA, Western Illinois University's Great River Teacher Corps, University of Maine’s Rural Thrive, Mississippi Rural Education Association, Ohio University’s Rural Teacher Fellowship Program, and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville’s Proud Rural Teacher Initiative.

Learn more about these programs and the Rural Teacher Corps Learning Network here.

In the months ahead, Rural Schools Collaborative will continue to work with our Regional Hub Network and the Community of Learners to highlight these programs and facilitate partnerships between higher education, philanthropy, and rural schools. The Community of Learners initiative is a powerful next step in building a more sustainable and equitable future for rural education.