The report begins: “Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are looking to school districts such as Baraboo for insight into what it’s like to teach in rural areas and how to better connect university graduates to those schools.”

The article explains how the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) started a “Teacher Speakout!” program in 2016.

The News Republic explains: “Two small groups of rural Wisconsin teachers have been invited to campus for discussions with rural-school advocates and students training to become educators, according to program manager and special education doctoral student Katie McCabe. The two discussion sessions and surveys sent to 47 rural districts are meant to keep education research informed by classroom realities, according to a program briefing.”

WCER is housed within the School of Education, as is the special education program McCabe is pursuing her Ph.D. through.

The report notes how Baraboo East Elementary School special education teacher Meghan Bauer went to Madison this past fall as one of seven teachers to participate in the second session.

“It was a really good experience,” Bauer tells the newspaper. “I think it’s a really good step in the right direction in terms of how higher education schools are responding to the needs in education right now and wanting to work with districts and hear from districts about how they can better prepare students and want them coming to rural districts.”

McCabe described to the News Republic the key problems she hears repeated from teachers in rural districts: a shortage of teachers, high turnover, difficulty recruiting new teachers, lack of housing and low salaries, among others.

“However, they also share all of the joys and why they love teaching in a rural school,” McCabe said in the report. “It’s like that close-knit, tight community that also keeps them staying there and teaching, and I find that really interesting.”

McCabe tells the newspaper that she plans to continue working with the program participants and coordinate with the WCER’s new Rural Education Research and Implementation Center.

To learn much more about this important topic, check out the entire article for free on this Baraboo News Republic web page.