ABSTRACT
Education began in small towns, where communities agreed that all of the children should be educated for the good of all and for the sake of the future. Demographic projections around ethnicity, jobs, and a college-educated workforce reflect some interesting data for the future of the educational system in rural America. Nationwide, rural school district enrollment grew by over 22% from 1999–2000 through 2008–2009. The interplay of immigration, education, and social mobility has created a new reality for rural places and has implications for educational policy, advocacy, and relationships in rural schools for all students, including gifted learners. Rural schools and communities are quite diverse, therefore it is difficult to establish a set of generalizations to describe or define these communities. Rural America is not monolithic, so no single policy can address its varying challenges. The transition from a natural resource-based economy to an economy based on trade and services.
