Conceptions of choice, equity, & rurality in educational research: A review of the literature on rural education and school choice policies

Abstract

Issues of school choice regularly appear in popular discourse related to resources, equity, and freedom in education. Although school choice policies and initiatives promote a vision of additional schooling options for all students, the predominant target of choice advocates and researchers has been densely populated, urban cores in the United States (McShane & Smarick, 2018). However, this belies the fact that rural communities have also engaged in forms of school choice decision-making. While some research has explored rural school choice, we believe there are myriad, novel opportunities for meaningful education research regarding school choice, equity, and conceptions of rurality. Over nine million children in the United States, or nearly 20% of the public-school student population, attend a school designated as rural (Kena et al., 2015;Showalter et al., 2019). Additionally, rural schools and districts have remarkable levels of variability in terms of racial, ethnic, cultural, and geographic compositions. These contexts provide significant motivation for further explorations of rurality and school choice. This review is not intended to advocate for an expansion of school choice policies. Rather, we aim for it to serve as a call for additional research that seeks to better understand how school choice policies are currently operating in rural areas and their implications for educational equity. To advance toward a robust research agenda for rural education and school choice, we review the existing literature on school choice and rural education, provide key recommendations, and assert the need for additional consideration of the following: critical socio-political histories and theories;methodological diversity;issues of race, racism, sexual orientation, and equity;social-emotional learning and development;impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic;and broadened understandings of rurality. © 2021.