Thanks for sharing your experience, Toby. Sharing lab resources with folks sounds like it was a challenge for your project. Are there things you have learned about that that we might learn from on our project?

Thanks for the question, Troy! I think there's two layers to answering the question: first, how we are working with rural educators and also the substance of the strategies.

The how:

We began our project with an existing professional learning program that we'd developed with and for educators for a wide variety of contexts (urban, rural, and contexts), and sought to adapt it to rural contexts. To prepare us for adaptation, we first undertook a study of rural educators' concerns and goals, and also to understand how we might need to adapt a program to their schedules and constraints. As a second step, we've been engaging a team of co-adapters from rural areas of Colorado in different types of settings -- schools, area education agencies, and teacher education programs in rural areas -- to help us adapt the approach. They've helped us refine our understanding of contexts and goals we should be pursuing, as well as the substance of the program.

The substance: 

We emphasize a lot getting information directly from students using different means -- such as surveys -- about phenomena and problems that might engage them. We also emphasize gathering information about students' experience of assessment, and we are also exploring how best to support identity-affirming practices in feedback on assessments. Also, we are designing supports for how to frame tasks to make clear "what's at stake" at answering a set of assessment questions -- for them, as well as for others. 

A key theme is that interest and identity are lenses that we apply when looking at assessment tasks -- since learning and identity are intertwined. "Why should I care?" if I am a student is one of those lenses to bring, when reviewing a task for its personal relevance.

Can you talk about some examples of how you adapted the existing PL program to a more rural focussed context? What are the kinds of things projects may be missing if they don't appreciate the context in which members of a professional learning community are teaching?

Hey Daniel! Thanks for watching our video!

I love this project because I'm from a tiny rural school, and community is everything. There's so much we can learn from rural teachers about community-centered design, and taking that orientation has been really critical... we're not out to treat rural education as "deprived" but rather as having a rich history and some rather enviable community-centered design principles at the heart of teacher work. Does that help? Do you see that happening in rural places you work?

Another thing that's come out is the intense appreciation and awe teachers and rural communities have for out-of-school and outdoor learning. In the school in the video, Pike's Peak is literally in view of the front door of the school, and students and families are connected to the wildlife, agriculture, and place. Again... I think it's something we envy and want to learn from. 

The notion that teachers from rural communities have an "intense appreciation and awe ... for out-of-school and outdoor learning" is and interesting observation that could help a PLC come together with the right focus. 

Heidi, that's a great question. We certainly had help and a reminder from our co-adaptation group that the kinds of phenomena and problems that can anchor assessment tasks don't just need to be "local." It's so important not to conflate the idea of interest-driven phenomena and identity-connected concerns and priorities with "local," in that sense, and to seek data on what actually interests and concerns students. The heart of the strategies we encourage is actually taking time to learn through a variety of means what students are interested in, and help educators connect that to content they are assessing.

Thank you, Dr. Clark! Appreciate your thoughts on our project. 

Hi Rick,

Thanks for your question about virtual vs face to face PD. One of the things we are hearing from rural teachers is that they are sometimes the "lone" science teacher in their school or district and/or that their school or district is far from others. So having a virtual community is really welcome, especially for PD that is ongoing. Meeting regularly face to face over the course of a school year, for example, is just not realistic, so they have felt left out of many opportunities. Also forming a community with other rural teachers is very enticing to many, as there is a sense of a shared background and challenges.

Hi Kate! Great to see you pop up #inhere. :)

We found that rural teachers were deeply community-driven and oriented to their students' interests, sometimes from birth. Many of them talked about appreciating the multi-generational nature of their teaching. I wish all teachers could have such deep connection to their communities!

We also found that teachers in the mountain areas are really interested in connecting with the outdoors and getting outside. They also spoke about needing to make clear the boundaries of belief versus evidence and how the epistemics of those are different... very nuanced! We're excited to learn more with them!