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Leading Rural Schools: Looking to the Literature for Evidence to Inform Principal Preparation Programs

A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify challenges faced by rural school principals, strategies to address the challenges, and how the challenges and strategies can be addressed through the implementation of the 2018 National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP) standards and the 2015 Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSELs). The review yielded 42 studies conducted between 2006 and 2018. Major themes emerging from the literature include issues related to leadership, enrollment, teacher recruitment and retention, and school improvement/student achievement. Major challenges and strategies are aligned with the NELP standards and PSELs for use by those teaching principal preparation courses or developing curriculum for principal preparation courses. studies about the impact on the community when schools close due to low enrollment would provide insight into the critical role rural schools play in sustaining the community. Studying the efforts school leaders make to prevent or delay consolidation of schools would shed light on the unique role of the principal in schools with dwindling populations. Expanding the study to include challenges faced by rural school superintendents could further add to the knowledge base, particularly since principals and superintendents are likely to work closely together in rural schools, especially those that are small. The literature suggests that rural school leaders face many challenges attributed to school location. The literature also reveals strategies that can be utilized to mitigate the challenges. The researchers suggest that these can be addressed through leadership preparation courses aligned with the NELP standards and the PSELs.