This report presents a series of indicators on the status of education in rural America, using the new NCES locale classification system. The new system classifies the locale of school districts and schools based on their actual geographic coordinates into one of 12 locale categories and distinguishes between rural areas that are on the fringe of an urban area, rural areas that are at some distance, and rural areas that are remote. The findings of this report indicate that in 2003-04 over half of all operating school districts and one-third of all public schools in the United States were in rural areas; yet only one-fifth of all public school students were enrolled in rural areas. A larger percentage of public school students in rural areas than those in any other locale attended very small schools. A larger percentage of rural public school students in the 4th- and 8th-grades scored at or above the Proficient level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading, mathematics, and science assessments in 2005 than did public school students in cities at these grade levels. However, smaller percentages of rural public school students than suburban public school students scored at or above the Proficient level in reading and mathematics. In 2004, the high school status dropout rate (i.e., the percentage of persons not enrolled in school and not having completed high school) among 16- to 24-year-olds in rural areas was higher than in suburban areas, but lower than in cities. Current public school expenditures per student were higher in rural areas in 2003-04 than in any other locale after adjusting for geographic cost differences. Racial/ethnic minorities account for a smaller percentage of public school teachers in rural schools than in schools in all other locales in 2003-04. In general, smaller percentages of public school teachers in rural areas than across the nation as a whole reported problems as “serious” and behavioral problems as frequent in their schools in 2003-04. Likewise, a larger percentage of public school teachers in rural areas than in other locales reported being satisfied with the teaching conditions in their school in 2003-04, though a smaller percentage of rural public school teachers than suburban public school teachers reported being satisfied with their salary. Public school teachers in rural areas earned less, on average, in 2003-04 than their peers in other locales, even after adjusting for geographic cost differences.
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