The Role of Rural Schools in Community Development: Policy Issues and Implications

This article builds on 5 years ofresearch and development, under the auspices ofthe Rural Education Program at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL), designed to ensure community well-being by building strong rural community-school partnerships. Communitywide support for community-based learning opportunities for youth, which is the basis for this work, improves social capital and helps youth appreciate their rural communities. Successful community-based approaches such as Foxfire, stream ecology monitoring, and entrepreneurship have identified attributes for successful implementation. I conclude with policy implications for ensuring long-term sustainability.