Clemson University to Lead National Rural Education Center

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Clemson University will lead a national center dedicated to improving teaching practice and educational leadership in rural settings with a consortium of higher education institutions.

Clemson’s College of Education will serve as the host institution for the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Center for Innovative Rural Collaborative Leadership Education (CIRCLE).

Kristen Cuthrell, chair of the Department of Education and Human Development, will serve as director of the CIRCLE, which will involve faculty from Clemson University and partner institutions, including East Carolina University, Kansas State University and North Carolina State University.

CIRCLE at Clemson will continue the work of UCEA’s first rural center hosted by faculty at the University of Colorado-Denver.

The center began through practice-research partnerships explicitly focused on the preparation and practice of educational leaders in rural contexts with the goal of improving learning opportunities and outcomes for rural students across the country.

“Clemson University and our partners seek to continue this mission to amplify rural voices and champion rural educators through leadership training,” Cuthrell said. “We also aim to disseminate the results of this partnership so any educator or leader can lean into their practice, expanding the strengths of their rural communities.”

Cuthrell said CIRCLE will establish and emphasize research-practice partnerships by engaging with alliances in schools, businesses and community organizations.

The center will organize this work around three pillars: practitioner professional development, research and collaboration for grant funding.

Officials said partner districts working with CIRCLE institutions face unique challenges due to small populations and remote locations.

The challenges include high and persistent poverty, high teacher and leader turnover, low funding and the logistical difficulties inherent in widely dispersed geographic rural areas, the officials said.

According to Cuthrell, the partner institutions have agreed to utilize the research framework outlined in the National Rural Education Association Research Agenda, which includes focus areas ranging from health and wellness to teacher and leader recruitment and development.

CIRCLE leadership joining Cuthrell include:

* Associate Director Lisa Bass, Ph.D., associate professor at North Carolina State University

* Associate Director Karen Eppley, Ph.D., professor of rural education and director of the rural education center at Kansas State University

* Associate Director Hans Klar, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Educational and Organizational Leadership Development at Clemson University

* Associate Director Matthew Militello, Ph.D., Wells Fargo Distinguished Professor in Educational Leadership at East Carolina University.