‘We See You, We Believe in You’: An Impact Evaluation of Rural Schools Collaborative’s Grants in Place Program

This story was written by Elizabeth Towle, Molly Rogers, and Sydney Sahni, who recently completed their Doctorate of Education degree at Vanderbilt University. Elizabeth, Sydney, and Molly selected Rural Schools Collaborative as a partner for their capstone dissertation, and spent the 2025-26 school year conducting a retrospective analysis of RSC’s Grants in Place program. What follows is a reflection of their time researching the program, highlighting key findings, conclusions, and impacts of Grants in Place. RSC is deeply grateful to Elizabeth, Molly, and Sydney for their time, efforts, and contributions to our mission. 

As educators with deep ties to rural schools, our Vanderbilt doctoral research team understands firsthand the challenges confronting rural schools including geographic isolation, limited resources, and teacher shortages. However, our experiences have also taught us about the power of rural schools to transform communities and propel students toward boundless opportunity. When we were given the opportunity to select our capstone dissertation research partner, we were immediately drawn to Rural School Collaborative (RSC). We saw RSC as not only helping to combat the obstacles that rural schools face, but also striving to shift the deficit narrative that surrounds them. 

After conversations with RSC leadership, our research team set out to discover exactly how and to what extent one of RSC’s signature initiatives, Grants in Place (GiP), was impacting its participants. The Grants in Place program awards a $2,500 grant to rural educators to conduct Place-Based Education (PBE) projects that connect classrooms and community, culminating in a Celebration of Learning where teachers present on their projects. To explore the impacts of Grants in Place, we asked three research questions:

1. How does Grants in Place influence participating teachers?

2. After participating in Grants in Place, how do teachers perceive the project’s impact on their students and communities?

3. Which elements of the Grants in Place program do teachers perceive as being the most impactful?

To answer them, we designed a convergent, mixed methods program evaluation that leveraged both qualitative and quantitative research methods. We surveyed former program participants as well as other rural teachers to establish a comparison group that could help us measure the impact of participating in GiP. We also interviewed 20 GiP alumni to help provide context and nuance to our understanding of the quantitative data. After analyzing our results, we established the following eight findings:

Finding #1: Participating in GiP influences teachers’ pride and connection to their identity as rural teachers.

We first sought to understand how Grants in Place (GiP) influences participating teachers. One awardee described being a rural teacher as a “badge of honor,” effectively capturing a central finding of this study: participation in GiP meaningfully shaped teachers’ pride in and connection to their professional identity as rural educators. In particular, participating in the Celebration of Learning, the end-of-program virtual event in which awardees publicly present their project outcomes, greatly contributed to this feeling of pride.

Ninety-seven percent of survey respondents agreed that participation in GiP provided opportunities for awardees to share stories about rural education and the same percentage agreed that participation in GiP also increased their confidence in telling their own professional story. Showcasing both student work and the unique strengths of rural communities, we found that this culminating event serves not only as a presentation space, but as a moment of professional validation. After hearing others’ stories of rural teacher excellence, many teachers described feeling proud, not just of their projects, but of being rural educators. As one teacher reflected, “It made me proud to be a rural teacher… hearing everybody’s experiences and the impact that they could have on their communities.”

Beyond the Celebration, this sense of pride was reinforced through organizational backing and belonging to a national network. Awardees consistently described feeling seen, valued, and supported, which can be rare in rural contexts where schools are often overlooked. One awardee emphasized the lasting impression of receiving recognition as a rural teacher: “To have the backing of [RSC, communicates]... ‘We see you. We believe in you. We believe in these kids even though there are not many of them.’”

Finding #2: Participating in GiP reinforces awardees’ beliefs in their status as professionals.

One of the most consistent themes across this study was the way Grants in Place (GiP) strengthened teachers’ sense of their status as professionals. Awardees described feeling more confident, empowered, and purposeful in their work, not only because they received funding to lead meaningful community-based projects, but also because they were trusted to implement those projects on their own terms. Many teachers emphasized that GiP gave them the freedom to design and implement creative ideas without the layers of approval and oversight they often encounter in schools. One awardee described the experience as a “welcoming, joy-filled experience.”

External recognition and validation from GiP also played an important role. Educators surveyed shared that receiving an external grant signaled that their work mattered beyond their classrooms. Public acknowledgment from a national organization increased the visibility of their efforts within their local communities and reinforced their credibility as professional educators. Additionally, for many awardees, the experience changed how they saw themselves. One teacher reflected, “There’s something about when you see a plaque with your name on it, or you see yourself in the newspaper... I gave myself some clout in a place that I didn’t know I had any.”

These findings suggest that GiP does more than fund innovative projects. By combining trust, autonomy, and public recognition, the program affirms teachers as capable professionals whose ideas, and contributions matter, helping challenge deficit-based narratives of rural education.

Finding #3: Participating in GiP leads to feelings of rejuvenation, joy, and job fulfillment.

One key finding from our study was that participating in GiP leads to feelings of rejuvenation, joy, and job fulfilment for teachers. Almost every survey respondent agreed that participating in GiP increased their job satisfaction. GiP awardees also indicated higher satisfaction compared to other rural teachers taking a national survey. That being said, GiP awardees indicated a similarly strong commitment to remain in teaching compared to other rural teachers across the nation. 

Together, these findings suggest that while GiP awardees are already committed to teaching, they experience an increase in satisfaction through participation in the program. This was highlighted by our interviews and survey responses. One awardee said that GiP “sparked a fire that I think all teachers need midway in their career.” Another participant said “My GiP experience was a renaissance of sorts in my teaching career–a second wind that launched many more PBE opportunities.” Yet another educator described the GiP experience as “breathing fresh air again,” while another said it “refreshed me as a professional.” 

Across the board GiP awardees described the joy, rejuvenation, and job fulfillment they experienced as a result of participating in GiP, indicating that participation may provide a spark that boosts teacher morale mid-career.

Finding #4: GiP alumni report a significantly higher sense of belonging within their rural communities.

GiP alumni reported a stronger sense of belonging within their rural communities than similar rural teachers. Survey results indicated that this difference was both statistically significant and practically meaningful, suggesting that participation in GiP may contribute to how connected teachers feel to the places where they live and work.

Interviews with awardees help explain why this difference may exist. Across responses, awardees described their place-based projects as opportunities to build deeper relationships with students, families, local organizations, and community members. Rather than viewing community engagement as separate from classroom instruction, awardees described GiP as helping them intentionally connect teaching and learning to their local communities. 

As one participant explained, “I loved how GiP made me purposefully stop and evaluate how I involve my community in what goes on in my classroom... and I now try to increase that involvement in any way I can.” Collectively, our data suggests that by helping teachers design learning experiences rooted in local people, places, and resources, GiP appears to strengthen teachers’ connections to their rural communities and deepen their sense of belonging within them.

Finding #5: Participating in GiP strengthens connections between teachers, students, schools, and rural communities.

Across both interviews and surveys, GiP awardees reported that participating in GiP strengthened connections across project-stakeholders and the community. GiP awardees reported improved student-student connections, student-teacher connections, student-community connections, and community-school connections as a result of their GiP projects. Teachers reported deeper connections between students as a result of their GiP projects. One participant described how her students, including one student who was new to the community, really bonded as a result of their project. Many participants also reported improved student-teacher connections stemming from their GiP project. 

One awardee described that her students “felt like I had more trust in them, and that I was believing in them a little bit more.” Almost every participant who was surveyed said that they felt their GiP project strengthened students’ connections to their community, while every participant who was surveyed said that they agreed that their GiP project increased students’ pride in and appreciation for the assets of their community. One participant described her students’ experience saying, “I think it changed the mentality of ‘I can’t wait to get out of this town’ to ‘there are some cool things that have happened in this town.’” 

Finally, 100% of the GiP awardees that were surveyed agreed that implementing a place-based project supported by GiP strengthened relationships between their school and the community as well as increased the community’s pride in the school. One participant cited that “community perception of our district is more and more positive.” Awardees continuously reflected that these place-based projects helped to create a stronger connection between the community (place) and the school.

Finding #6: GiP awardees perceive increased excitement and engagement for students.

Awardees consistently described GiP-supported place-based education projects as powerful drivers of student excitement and engagement. Survey results reinforced these perceptions, with all respondents agreeing that their projects increased student engagement and provided more authentic learning opportunities. Additionally, across interviews, awardees described students as excited and eager to participate in project activities. 

One teacher noted that the excitement extended beyond the students directly involved in the project, explaining, “They heard about it and saw the excitement of the other kids… and thought, ‘when I get to high school, what are we going to be able to do?’” Importantly, awardees attributed this improved engagement to the local relevance of the learning experiences. By connecting classroom instruction to familiar people, places, and issues, students were able to see the purpose and value of what they were learning. 

Awardees also described how these projects helped students imagine futures within their rural communities. Through experiences connected to local careers, civic leadership, and community development, students began to see themselves as future contributors to the places they call home. Ultimately, our data indicates that participating in place-based projects funded by GiP deepens engagement while helping students build meaningful connections to their communities and their futures.

Finding #7: GiP awardees perceive the financial support, accountability, and opportunity to connect with other rural educators as the most impactful programmatic elements.

In response to our third research question, we sought to understand which elements of the Grants in Place program were perceived to be the most impactful. Our research team found that GiP awardees perceived the financial support, accountability, and opportunity to connect with other rural educators as all impactful programmatic elements. 100% of respondents strongly agreed that the grant funds provided by GiP supported their ability to implement their PBE project successfully, consistently describing the $2,500 grant amount as ‘small but powerful.’

For many, it made the difference between an idea and reality. The accountability and support from RSC also played a critical role in their project’s success through regular check-ins and open communication. Finally, survey data showed that 100% of awardees found value in the cohort experience. Teachers described feeling inspired by others, learning new ideas, and gaining a broader understanding of rural education across different regions. 

Finding #8: Participating in GiP enacts PBE projects that persist and often snowball.

The overarching finding of our study is that participation in GiP enacts Place-Based Education projects that persist beyond the one-year grant cycle and often “snowball,” expanding in both scope and impact to affect awardees, students, and their schools and communities. Across survey responses and interviews, teachers consistently described their projects as ongoing and growing into programs with a lasting, much larger impact–and at times, taking on a life of their own. 

We heard countless stories illustrating how the relatively modest grant funds were investments in resources used to sustain place-based projects and programs over time. One awardee described how, over time, his project of a classroom garden grew into a greenhouse for the local community. The project expanded to include additional grow boxes, partnerships with the school cafeteria, and community workshops.

Beyond sustaining and expanding individual projects, awardees also described how GiP initiatives generated new ideas, revenue, and momentum within their schools and communities. In several cases, the visibility of a successful project encouraged colleagues to experiment with place-based learning in their own classrooms or inspired stakeholders to “give” and “get involved.” 

One awardee described how as her project grew, it became the political symbol of her schools’ educational excellence, presented at board meetings and community stakeholder meetings as they tried to pass a new school budget. These findings suggest that GiP functions not merely as a short-term project grant, but long-term investment in rural teachers, classrooms, schools, and communities.

Conclusion

Rural Schools Collaborative believes that rural teachers and schools are the heart of rural places. Strategic programming like Grants in Place supports rural teachers and schools with the ultimate goal of strengthening and sustaining rural communities. We found that GiP awardees felt proud and connected to their identity as rural teachers, validating their status as professionals. Participating awardees experienced rejuvenation, joy, and job fulfillment along with an increased sense of belonging within their rural communities, reflecting on their strengthened ties to students, schools, and community members as well. 

Awardees shared stories of heightened student excitement and engagement surrounding the project. They attributed this impact to the financial support, accountability, and opportunity to connect with other rural educators. Lastly, we found that GiP projects often live on long past the grant cycle, often snowballing or catalyzing, with the power to create lasting change in the school and community.

We collected dozens of stories that affirmed the reality that teachers are capable of great things when they are given the resources that they need and allowed the space and autonomy to enact change. GiP is at the forefront of recognizing that treating teachers as professionals, and not tools, can change the trajectory of students’, schools’, and communities’ futures. 

The stories shared in this study inform the counter narrative of rural teacher excellence, directly opposing the dominant deficit narrative that currently exists around rural education. Ultimately, this study positions GiP as a model for the school-and-community-changing outcomes that can occur when teachers are supported and trusted as professionals.

Therefore, we place our trust in a participating awardees’ reflection as the last word on the transformative power of the GiP program:

[GiP] gets to the ways that teachers tell their stories… through the course of my 20 years of teaching, there have been times when I really question whether I want to stay [in teaching]… I remember my narrative around teaching really did a 180 where all of a sudden I… [felt] lucky to be in this profession. I’m really changing students’ lives for the better. It’s meaningful work…a good use of my talents… a good use of my creativity… a good challenge for me. It stretches me to learn new things myself, and… [then tell] that story, to friends, to family, to colleagues… I just wanted to share that. And in the process of sharing that, it shifted my narrative.”

About the authors: 

Dr. Sydney E. B. Sahni, Ed.D grew up in central Illinois. She was educated in an excellent rural school system and believes everyone is deserving of a strong education regardless of their zip code. After graduating college, she taught in Mississippi before moving to Tennessee to broaden her instructional experience. After teaching in Nashville, Sydney returned to central Illinois where she continued teaching and remains a strong advocate for rural education.

Dr. Elizabeth Towle, Ed.D is an educator and school leader with deep roots in rural education. Raised in rural New Hampshire and educated in public schools, she later moved to Mississippi, where she spent 15 years in a rural public middle school as both a teacher and principal. She remains a dedicated advocate for the success of rural students, teachers, and schools.

Dr. Molly Rogers, Ed.D is an educator from Rising Fawn, Georgia. She lived in her hometown and taught English at her alma mater for several years. Inspired by the rural excellence of her colleagues and boundless potential of her students, she moved to Nashville, Tennessee in hopes of enacting systemic change in rural education. Molly is currently interested in reimagining the relationship between schools and communities.