With fewer students per school and limited funding to match, rural school districts have been behind in STEM education. “Rural districts are particularly concerned because, as we’re getting into 21st century learning, they’re having a hard time keeping up, largely due to money as well as [teacher] recruitment and retention issues,” said Denise Harshbarger, the supervisor for special projects at the North East Florida Education Consortium, an organization that represents the shared issues of 15 rural districts.

Recruitment is a major issue. “I think our biggest challenge has been finding teachers who are willing to work in a rural community, which traditionally means their salary will be slightly lower than in nearby larger districts,” Harshbarger said. “And if you don’t have the teachers who are really able to know STEM subjects and be able to transfer that to students, then you’re not going to be able catch students up with the curve.”

Diane Ward is the Vice President for Student Learning and Chief Academic Officer for Roane State Community College, which partnered with the Rural Communities STEM Initiative that serves the interests of nine rural districts in Tennessee. For Ward, the personnel issue was most apparent in middle school science classrooms. The schools have great teachers, she said, but some seventh and eighth grade science teachers don’t have in-depth knowledge about scientific topics because they’ve been moved from the multidisciplinary classrooms of younger grades. In many cases, teachers with enough knowledge in one area might be forced to take on other specialties because of understaffing. “And even though teachers may have a working knowledge in some areas of STEM, it may not be in-depth enough to teach a class in another STEM area,” Ward added.

Staffing problems are compounded by a lack of facilities. “In a very rural areas, for middle schools in particular, there simply are no labs,” Ward said. No understanding of STEM concepts can be complete without a grasp of their application, and hands-on labs can do wonders to reinforce these concepts, Ward added.

In Florida, educators are more concerned about the lack of digital technology in their schools. “The advancement we’ve seen in digital learning for STEM education in the past few years has taken on a whole new meaning,” Harshbarger said. “It’s really a culture shift toward student-centered, almost personalized learning, and we’re at that bleeding edge [of integrating this technology] in lots of districts now.” In the near future, rural districts will take a hard look at what technology is needed to augment their curricula and try to get the necessary funding to afford it.

Some districts have sought additional grants to make their infrastructure match the level of instruction their students need. But others have entered partnerships with local businesses that lend students their time, money, and resources. In the nine Tennessee districts involved in the Rural Communities Stem Initiative, Ward said, a meeting of local educators, administrators, parents and business owners posed the question: What can we do to help with STEM education? “Everyone’s expectation was for the school systems to request a check from the businesses, but they got a very different answer,” she said.