From its founding in 1865 as the State Normal School for teachers, the University of Missouri College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) has maintained a deep and sustained commitment to rural schools and communities. Today, that commitment is reflected across six interconnected academic units and more than a dozen outreach centers working to strengthen education, support families, and improve communities across the lifespan.

Located in the heart of Missouri, CEHD faculty and outreach teams have long partnered with rural districts throughout the state. Their work addresses school mental health, special education, literacy, STEM education, school climate, technology integration, and more. A coordinated framework now strengthens and aligns these efforts to expand impact and deepen engagement statewide.

The Rural Education Initiative brings together the College’s research, preparation programs, and outreach work to address the evolving needs of rural schools and communities. By aligning expertise across disciplines, the initiative advances practical solutions grounded in partnership and evidence.

CEHD plays a central role in strengthening Missouri’s educator workforce and supporting innovation in rural education.

Growing the Teacher Pipeline

The University of Missouri is expanding access to high-quality teacher preparation across all grade levels and subject areas. The College of Education and Human Development has broadened online teaching degree pathways to increase access for individuals in rural communities who cannot relocate or leave the workforce to attend a residential program. Coursework is delivered online, while all field and clinical experiences remain in-person and university-supervised in the communities where students live and plan to work. This model expands opportunity statewide while maintaining rigorous preparation standards.

Supporting Rural Recruitment and Retention

Targeted supports strengthen the rural teacher pipeline and long-term retention. Students placed in rural communities are eligible for donor-funded stipends ranging from $1,000–$5,000 per semester. Since 2024, 68 students have received this support, reducing financial barriers and encouraging rural employment.

The MU Partnership for Educational Renewal (MPER) Recruitment Fair connects education students with rural districts seeking teachers, strengthening hiring and long-term placement in rural schools.

Through the Office of Clinical Experiences and Partnerships, rural placements are intentionally embedded within preparation programs. The Pair Mentoring Program further supports retention by strengthening relationships between student teachers and host teachers early in each placement.

Investing in Innovation

The College of Education and Human Development funds research and outreach projects that address real challenges in rural communities. Faculty and outreach leaders advance competitive, collaborative initiatives that build on historic strengths while encouraging new ideas and cross-campus partnerships. These investments expand program reach, strengthen implementation, and generate solutions informed by local context.

Together, these coordinated efforts reflect a sustained commitment to rural Missouri. By strengthening educator preparation and funding impactful research and outreach, the University of Missouri continues to serve as a statewide partner in advancing strong rural schools and communities.

Through the Rural Education Initiative, faculty, staff and partners are advancing work that addresses the unique opportunities and challenges facing rural communities. The projects below (funded from 2022-2024) are organized around five strategic impact areas and highlight how innovation, collaboration and research are making a difference across Missouri.

Strategic Impact Areas:

1. Strengthening the Rural Educator Workforce
2. Improving Student Learning and Success
3. Building Community and School Partnerships
4. Driving Innovation through Research
5. Leveraging Resources for Greater Impact

Strategic Impact Area 1: Strengthening the Rural Educator Workforce

Supporting Teacher Well Being and Student Behavior in Boone County Rural Schools

• Principal Investigator: Sarah Owens
• Project description: Develop a 6-step stress intervention to support the wellbeing of teachers in rural schools.
• Outcomes: Using the 6-step stress intervention on three middle school teachers, studied the impacts of one-on-one teacher stress coaching intervention. In Fall 2026, 15 mental health professionals serving Boone County Schools will be trained to implement the model, with the long-term goal of using it for new teachers in rural schools to aid in teacher retention.

Supporting English Language Arts Teachers with Artificial Intelligence Education

• Principal Investigators: Sam von Gillern, Chad Rose
• Project description: This project aims to develop an understanding of English Language Arts (ELA) teachers’ views on AI and support these teachers in facilitating AI curricula by investigating and demonstrating the relationship between AI and digital citizenship.
• Outcomes: Three articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as other manuscripts and broader grant applications. Von Gillern will study expand his research on this topic as a Fulbright scholar with his project, Empowering Rural Chilean K-8 Teachers in AI Literacy.

Stem Professional Development Network

• Principal Investigator: Laura Zangori
• Project description: This network will provide training for 12 middle- and secondary STEM teachers across different rural school districts for enhanced networking, professional learning, and teacher-leadership development.
• Outcomes: Across two project years, STEM MOre supported 23 rural STEM educators, strengthened partnerships among K–12 education, higher education, and industry, and improved access to meaningful professional learning for rural teachers. The project informed refinements to rural STEM teacher PD delivery models and generated lessons learned that can guide future scalable efforts to strengthen rural STEM education within Missouri.

Supporting Teachers of Refugee-background Youth in Rural Communities

• Principal Investigators: Melissa Hauber-Özer, Ayça Fackler, Yeji Kim
• Project description: This project aims to support rural middle and high school teachers in developing and adapting culturally and linguistically sustaining literacy practices that cut across different disciplines, such as science, mathematics, and social studies to meet the academic needs of refugee youth.
• Outcomes: The research team developed and delivered two customized professional development workshops to approximately 65 teachers and three administrators in a rural school district. Research findings have been presented at the 2025 and 2026 American Association of Applied Linguistics Conference, and two publications are in progress. The Hook Center also invited them to publish a policy brief on the project.

MPER Stars (Students as Teachers for Advancing Rural Schools) Initiative

• Principal Investigator: Tony Castro
• Project description: Develop Grow-Your-Own (GYO) programs in rural MPER schools, develop a set of best practices for GYO programs and explore pathways for partnerships with the University of Missouri and external funding.
• Outcomes: Facilitated GYO Idea Exchange Forums with 24 school districts in MPER. Six rural school districts received $1,500-$2,000 to fund GYO projects that ranged from supporting cadet teacher training to supplementing the cost of substitute teacher certifications for high school seniors. Best practices are still being evaluated and will be shared through 2027.

Science Teachers Implementing Writing Practices and Adaptations with Technology

• Principal Investigator: Jamie Day
• Project description: Examined rural middle school science teachers’ knowledge, instructional practices and perceptions of integrating generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to support students with writing difficulties.
• Outcomes: This project identified gaps in teacher preparation and professional development and showed there is a need for targeted training that helps rural teachers integrate technology-enhanced writing instruction. The findings have resulted in publications, conference presentations and the development of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant proposal focused on developing a technology-based informative essay writing intervention for middle school science classrooms.

Strategic Impact Area 2: Improving Student Learning and Success

Utilizing The Expertise of Elementary Mathematics Specialists

• Principal Investigators: John Lannin, Corey Webel, Tiffany LaCroix
• Project description: Support for rural school districts in utilizing the expertise of Elementary Mathematics Specialists to improve mathematics instruction in schools by collecting data on the challenges and needs of districts.
• Outcomes: This work helped districts and state partners rethink how EMS expertise can be leveraged to strengthen support for mathematics instruction in rural schools and contributed to securing $1.7 million in state funding for DESE’s Missouri Mathematics Mastery Program.

Designing For Equity in Missouri K-12 Mathematics Education

• Principal Investigator: Charles Munter
• Project description: Support for rural districts in making immediate, evidence-based refinements to their efforts and guidance for districts in identifying and addressing their own challenges.
• Outcomes: Partnered with a rural Missouri school district to learn about equity challenges, goals and initiatives and presented the district community with findings. This research has been presented at conferences and will be used in a broader analysis of interviews conducted with leaders throughout Missouri.

Recently Arrived Immigrant Students in Rural Missouri

• Principal Investigators: Lisa Dorner, Emily Crawford-Rossi
• Project description: Assessment and support to ensure that immigrant students who arrive as adolescents persist in schooling and graduate from high school.
• Outcomes: Project report and professional development sessions in the rural district, presentations at academic conferences and two book chapters published and positive impact on educators, students, families and community partners.

Supporting Educational Outcomes for Indigenous Youth in Rural Contexts

• Principal Investigator: Rob Petrone
• Project description: A project to support better educational outcomes for rural students and schools, especially those who serve Native American youth and communities in rural and remote reservations.
• Outcomes: Publications of several peer reviewed journals and presentations to national audiences including the Montana Indian Education for All conference and the National Council for Teachers of English Annual Convention.

Students Teamed for Achieving Reading Success (STARS) Early Reading Initiative

• Principal Investigator: Erica Lembke
• Project description: Early Reading Initiative teams school faculty, parents, students and trained tutors in a process designed to support foundational reading skills for students using the evidence-based intervention, PRESS (Path to Reading Excellence in School Sites).
• Outcomes: Trained 25 tutors in three mid-Missouri school districts on PRESS while providing Tier 2 support to 93 students in grades K-3, at no cost to the districts. No additional funding has been secured to continue the program.

Mizzou Academy Access Scholarships for Grades 6-12

• Principal Investigator: Kathryn Fishman-Weaver
• Project description: Create a Mizzou Academy scholarship program to expand access to middle and high school students who live in rural Missouri.
• Outcomes: Awarded scholarships to three students. Two scholarship students submitted applications to continue funding, and both were approved. Both students have thrived at Mizzou Academy. This seed funding is helping with pursuing additional funding to establish a broader needs-based scholarship.

College and Career Access for Rural Immigrant and Refugee-background Students

• Principal Investigator: Rosalie Metro
• Project description: Develop a curriculum for a college and career preparation club for middle and high school students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds. RISE (Refugee and Immigrant Student Enrichment) club was offered in Hallsville school district and Douglass High School in Columbia.
• Outcomes: RISE clubs engaged 26 students who participated in 16 lessons over 8 months including mentorship, college campus visits, and guest speakers. Articles are being published in several peer-reviewed journals, and the research team will apply to present its findings at AERA in 2027.

Strategic Impact Area 3: Building Community and School Partnerships

Parenting Foundations: A ParentLink Toolkit of Integrated and Evidence-based Supports for Parents and Caregivers

• Principal Investigators: Bradd Anderson, Angie Nickell, Francisco Palermo, Kale Monk, Brenda Lohman, April Anderson Ravert
• Project description: An online course to provide free, statewide evidence-based parenting education with personalized supports such as coaching and connections to local and state resources. Parenting Foundations aims to give parents and caregivers the tools they need for everyday life and aims to create meaningful change in parents who are at risk of having their child enter foster care or are seeking reunification.
• Outcomes: From the time the course was launched on June 27, 2025, to April 8, 2026, 99 parents from 38 counties across Missouri have enrolled in the course. Fifty-six percent of participants reside in rural counties and 75% are actively working towards reunification with their children.

Growing Health and Science Literacy in Public Libraries and Community Gardens

• Principal Investigator: Jenny Bossaller
• This project aims to bring together public libraries, University of Missouri Extension, local science teachers, 4-H, and other groups to create community gardens and programming that is focused on health literacy, ecology and biodiversity.
• Outcomes: Partnered with four rural libraries on community projects about healthy eating, mental health, and ecology. This project led to two journal article publications as well as three presentations, not to mention positive press from the Columbia Missourian.

Maternal Health Education Program in Rural Missouri

• Principal Investigator: Laura Zangori
• Project description: This collaboration between the University of Missouri Extension, Human Development and Family Science, and Science Education looks to examine and supplement the educational needs of women that are pregnant or have recently given birth.
• Outcomes: Findings showed the lack of breast-feeding education and other post-partum resources for rural women. This project directly informed the successful completion and defense of Dr. Bridgewater’s doctoral dissertation, completed in Fall 2025. The project generated actionable data to guide the design of future MU Extension maternal health education programs for rural communities. The project will continue through June 30, 2026. Any remaining funds will be used to develop and pilot educational resources.

“Farm Forum” Programs Accessibility with KOPN Community Radio

• Principal Investigator: Sarah Buchanan
• Project description: Digitizing the KOPN original program “Farm Focus” broadcast, which aired in the 1980s and featured interviews with farmers and perspectives on rural agricultural issues.
• Outcomes: This was part of a much larger project to digitize 50 years of KOPN’s original content to celebrate the local radio station’s 50 years on the air. Buchanan completed the project and 1,170 WAV recordings are now available on the American Archive of Public Broadcasting website.

Restorative Visual Arts Interventions: Co-Creative Therapeutic Art Practices with Incarcerated and Re-Entry-Transitioning Women

• Principal Investigator: Linda Helmick
• Project description: This project explores how therapeutic arts interventions can support healing, self-understanding and empowerment for women in prison and on parole who are transitioning post-incarceration.

Strategic Impact Area 4: Driving Innovation through Research

Nutriquest: A Game-based Learning Intervention for Promoting Nutrition Education and Healthy Eating

• Principal Investigator: Rose Marra
• Project description: A game-based learning intervention, to support middle-school-aged children and their caregivers in learning more about food’s vital role in health. This was a collaboration between SISLT’s Adroit Studios and MU Extension’s Family Nutrition Program (FNEP).
• Outcomes: The project was successfully implemented in six SNAP-Ed classrooms reaching around 100 students and demonstrated game-based learning is an effective tool. With federal funding no longer supporting SNAP-Ed programs, the project is paused while the team seeks alternative funding sources.

Amplifying Rural Student Voices in Game-based Learning Design

• Principal Investigators: Rose Marra, Alex Urban, Noah Glaser, Joe Griffin, James Laffey
• Project description: Testing of educational games in rural schools, helping students to gain confidence and interest in game development, while ensuring rural voices are heard in the development of new learning technologies.
• Outcomes: The project supported undergraduate research involvement, contributed to presentations at CEHD Research Day, and is informing an upcoming ACM submission. It also helped launch the Adroit Innovation Playground, expanding opportunities for K–12 classrooms to participate in university-led research and outreach. Building on this work, the team is preparing future proposals to the National Science Foundation and plans to integrate RUX tools into SISLT programs, further strengthening rural engagement and innovation in game-based learning.

Strategic Impact Area 5: Leveraging Resources for Greater Impact

Linking Science, Mathematics and Literacy for All Learners

• Principal Investigators: Delinda van Garderen, Jessica Rodrigues, Amy Lannin, John Lannin, Bill Folk
• Project description: Professional development for 6th-8th grade Life Sciences, Mathematics, English Language Arts and Special Education teachers in rural schools.
• Outcomes: Expanded the existing program to increase the number of rural teacher participants. For 26-27, opening a collaboration with rural high school teachers in South Carolina. Also have applied for a $499,993 federal grant from the USDA to focus on professional learning for rural teachers.

Four-Day School Week Impacts

• Principal Investigator: Se Woong Lee
• Project description: This study will provide guidance to policymakers and leaders in rural schools, informing their decisions on adopting a four-day school week as a strategy to address teacher shortages, to promote equitable access to high-quality education for rural students.
• Outcomes: The research has been shared as a CALDER working paper and has received attention from multiple media outlets, which have cited the findings that there is no evidence that the four-day school week improves teacher recruitment or retention. The manuscript is currently under review at Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. In addition, my work in rural education has expanded, resulting in a publication in the edited volume Small, Numerous, and Isolated: Contemporary Issues in Rural Education Finance, where I examine the effects of rural and low-income school grants on student achievement and achievement gaps. This work has also been instrumental in securing additional grant funding.

Vacancy-Application-Hiring Data and Rural Educator Labor Markets

• Principal Investigator: Minseok Yang
• Project description: The first phase of this project is to construct a comprehensive dataset covering job posting through application and hiring results. The second phase is to analyze the dataset for our better understanding of the labor dynamics in Missouri’s rural schools.
• Outcomes: Through collaboration with the Wisconsin Evaluation Collaborative (WEC), the researchers were able to construct a longitudinal dataset of job vacancy and application records that they hope to replicate for Missouri. This research also led to several publications and manuscripts, as well as a $250,000 Spencer Foundation Large Research Grant.