Investing In The Improvement Of Mathematics And Science Education In Rural Appalachia: Ten Years Of ARSI And Its Accomplishments

INTRODUCTION: This report provides the reader with a summary of the underlying rationale, design strategies, and major accomplishments of the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI). Drawing upon both the data collected directly in Appalachia by Inverness Research Associates, as well as knowledge we have gained by working with many other rural initiatives, this summary report is intended to place ARSI in a broader perspective.

We aim to help the reader understand the ways in which the long-term, steady investment in ARSI helped to create a firm foundation for ongoing improvement of mathematics and science education in the Appalachia. In addition, by understanding the ARSI model that emerged and how it contributed to local capacity building in some of the poorest, most needy counties in Appalachia, this report illuminates the implications for future educational enhancement efforts in other rural regions of our country.

INVESTING IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION IN RURAL APPALACHIA: TEN YEARS OF ARSI AND ITS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

I. INTRODUCTION

The Rural Systemic Initiative (RSI) was designed by the National Science Foundation in the early 1990’s to improve education in the communities of Appalachia and other regions that include the nation’s most rural and impoverished communities. The Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative (ARSI) was one of the first funded projects within the RSI initiative, and has worked in Appalachia to improve mathematics and science education now for over a decade.

ARSI pursued its goal by focusing its efforts on enhancing the indigenous capacity of local Appalachian counties for ongoing improvement in math and science. Initially ARSI identified the 66 poorest counties in six states in the Appalachian region, and since then has evolved a powerful strategy for helping them to further develop their own capacity for self improvement. Our study of the ARSI effort has focused on the capacity building that has taken place over its ten-year lifespan.

This report provides the reader with a summary of the rationale, strategies, and accomplishments of the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative. Drawing upon the data collected by researchers from Inverness Research Associates, and on the knowledge gained by working with many other rural initiatives, this summary report is intended to place ARSI in broader perspective. We aim to help the reader understand the ways in which the investment in ARSI has helped to provide the foundation for the ongoing improvement of mathematics and science education in the Appalachian region, and to illuminate implications for future work in other rural regions.

II. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

The Challenge of Improving Rural Mathematics and Science Education

When one thinks of the neediest families in the United States, the image of inner-city neighborhoods may first come to mind. But the fact is that many of the nation’s poorest households are located in small rural communities. Scattered across the country pockets of often intense poverty remain isolated, largely unseen and unnoticed. Not all rural communities are poor however. Many can be described as middle class or lower middle class, but the rural counties specifically targeted by the NSF-funded Rural Systemic Initiative, to which ARSI belongs, are in fact extremely poor and suffer from a long history of poverty.

If you wish to continue reading this report, please download the full report (PDF)

back to top