How Rural Schools Survived the Pandemic
Educators in the Most Remote Parts of the State Have Faced Unique Challenges—And Found Some Silver Linings
In my 15 years researching and working in K–12 education, I haven’t seen anything like the COVID-19 pandemic disruption to education. This is especially true in rural areas, whose remote location, lower population density, higher poverty rates, and limited access to internet infrastructure and health care made their schools especially vulnerable during the pandemic—and where many students were already struggling before the pandemic.
But in parts of rural California, the pandemic also revealed silver linings. Some far-flung schools and districts in our state have made great strides bridging the digital divide, …
