“Purposeful Field Trips” May Be Good For At-Risk Rural Students

Field trips alone hardly constitute place-based education, but they often are integral parts of place-based efforts and on their own, field trips represent an excellent way of introducing students to their community.

Education Week’s Diette Courrege highlights a study on this subject in this Rural Education blog.  The study, Describing Connections between Science Content and Future Careers: Implementing Texas Curriculum for Rural At-Risk High School Students Using Purposefully-Designed Field Trips" was published in the fall issue of The Rural Educator, the peer-reviewed professional publication of the National Rural Education Association.

Place-Based Learning Offers Opportunities for High-Poverty Rural Schools

Place-Based Learning (PBL) can be a powerful tool to improve student achievement and strengthen the local community, but what exactly is it?

“Place based learning takes the real world around the school — the community — and turns it into a 21st century learning laboratory,” explains Margaret Maclean, Project Coordinator/Trainer for the Rural Trust. “Students learn skills and concepts while learning about and contributing to their place. By working on things like oral histories, water quality studies, community gardens, or student-led community tax centers, students are active learners, engaged and making a difference.”

Read more: Place-Based Learning Offers Opportunities for High-Poverty Rural Schools