National Rural Education Association Official Podcast
Welcome to the official podcast of the National Rural Education Association called the Rural Voice. Co-Hosted by Drs. Allen Pratt, Jared Bigham, and Christopher F. Silver, they discuss the common themes and experiences facing teachers, parents, and administrators in elementary and secondary rural education.
Episodes
October 10, 2025 • 23 mins
Jeff Granrud, the NREA’s 2025 Teacher of the Year, traces his path to rural math teaching to a timely scholarship nudge from a professor during a tough first year of college, then a formative student-teaching experience under North Dakota Teacher of the Year Fred Strand. Early confidence gave way to a student-driven approach as he adapted to how learners were doing math, listened to “unsung heroes” asking for more challenging cours...
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October 3, 2025 • 30 mins
In this episode, Drs. Melissa Sadorf, Bill Chapman, and Christopher Silver discuss the upcoming NREA convention. Together, they highlight the excitement surrounding the gathering and share what they are most eager to experience, from key sessions to opportunities for professional growth. The hosts reflect on how these conventions create space for educators to step away from day-to-day fires, reconnect with colleagues, and return in...
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September 25, 2025 • 21 mins
In this episode of The Rural Voice, host Dr. Chris Silver welcomes listeners back with an update on the National Rural Education Association (NREA) and its exciting period of transition. Chris introduces his new leadership and co-hosts, Dr. Bill Chapman and Dr. Melissa Sadorf, both of whom bring deep experience in education and leadership. The discussion highlights the future direction of NREA, emphasizing opportunities for growth,...
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Recorded on November 8th, 2024.
In this podcast, we welcome Lisa Rahn, Chief Product Officer at eDynamic Learning, to discuss the company's impact on rural education. Lisa shares that eDynamic Learning, founded by a high school teacher in 2008, provides online career and education resources for middle and high schools. The company's digital curriculum is designed to overcome geographical and resource limitations, delivering content...
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We interviewed Annette Logsdon-Rodriguez of Proximity Learning and discussed the teacher shortage issues within Rural Education and how companies like Proximity Learning meet these challenges through synchronous online learning. We talk about the challenges of finding qualified teachers to meet the unique needs of rural school districts, particularly in remote areas. This is particularly challenging given the curricular needs of sc...
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September 19, 2024 • 36 mins
In today’s episode, we interview one of our listeners and rural high school teachers, Rachael Straughn, from Russell County High School in Seale, Alabama. In this episode, Rachael shares her educational journey and narrative. Rachael talks about her childhood dream of being a broadcast meteorologist and storm chaser. She worked hard to be a chief meteorologist on television within a lake effect snow area and achieved her dream at a...
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Imagine you are in a small town, and several industries have moved out of your community. Many of your citizens have lost their jobs. What do you do now? Meet Jon Chadwell, the Executive Director of the Newport Arkansas Economic Development Commission. Jon’s community rallied together and formalized a plan to revitalize their community. The community worked together to find industries that were previously present in town. The commu...
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In this episode of the Rural Voice, we are discussing student data privacy and best practices in technology for protecting student data. We explore the importance of protecting student data, why rural schools particularly should be focused on data protection, and ways that teachers and administrators should be thinking about data protection. We discuss the free resources provided by CoSN that teachers and administrators can use to ...
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For this episode, we interview Dr. Brian Noland, the President of East Tennessee State University (ETSU). ETSU is a rural university serving the states of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. ETSU is located in a mountainous area of the country and has a strong presence in these states. ETSU has a strong education program for developing Rural Southeast United States teachers. We discussed the future of rural communiti...
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We interviewed Dr. Casey Jakubowski about teacher retention, policy, and practice. Dr. Jakubowski shared that Appalachia extends into New York State, and we reflected on how New York has large rural communities. Much of Dr. Jakubowski's work has focused on these communities and beyond (including West Virginia). We discuss the changing trends of job availability to applicants. We discuss burnout of new rural teachers and pay dispari...
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April 16, 2024 • 37 mins
In this episode, we discuss rural initiatives to train students in computer science. We interviewed Ms. Karen Mix, the co-director of CS4NorCal, a five-year research grant. This program creates K-12 computer science training. CS4NorCal was funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program and sponsored by SSDA to support Computer Science (CS) professional learning and instructi...
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In the first episode of the new season of the Rural Voice, we talk about the research of place and process of rural education from a data-informed perspective. We discuss the role of Ground Truthing and connecting data within the domains of politics, culture, and fear of consolidation. Dr. Mitchell talks about somewhere (rural) and anywhere (urban and suburban). The politics of these are what many would expect. Somewhere, lean more...
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Dr. Valerie Rutledge, Dean of the College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, discussed the large, diverse mix of accredited and licensure programs her college oversees. With an extensive background as an educator and administrator, Rutledge highlighted impressions from the record-setting National Forum to Advance Rural Education conference. She noted the hundreds of attende...
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Mike Hines, representing business and industry, discussed new federal infrastructure funding for rural schools at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education conference. The Inflation Reduction Act's $369 billion tax credits allow non-taxable entities like schools to access cash to upgrade aging systems for energy efficiency. Hines explained how schools can leverage these funds as a down payment and use future energy savings to p...
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Dr. Melissa Seidorf, superintendent of a small, rural Arizona district, was interviewed at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education conference. Seidorf co-hosts the Rural Scoop podcast highlighting rural education issues. At the conference, she presented on overcoming leadership challenges, drawing from her upcoming book "The Resilient Rural Leader." Seidorf discussed the tight-knit, supportive nature of rural communities that...
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Julia Cunningham, the U.S. Department of Education's Director of Rural Engagement, attended the National Forum to Advance Rural Education conference to connect with rural advocates and share federal efforts like the new Career Connected High School grant program. This program funds career pathways and work-based learning to provide rural students with more local career opportunities. Cunningham noted the optimism, alignment, and co...
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Joe Sanfilippo, a superintendent from Northwest Wisconsin, keynoted the National Forum to Advance Rural Education conference. He discussed the welcoming, supportive nature of rural educators who face common challenges with small school sizes and remote locations. Sanfilippo emphasized the importance of storytelling to inform the public, combat misconceptions, and spotlight the meaningful work happening in schools today. Rather than...
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Jerry Johnson, the Phoebe Moore Dale Distinguished Professor in Rural Education at East Carolina University, discussed the upcoming release of the 2023 "Why Rural Matters" report. This tenth edition marks the first published under the National Rural Education Association. Johnson notes how NREA has strengthened connections between researchers and practitioners to serve rural schools better. The report uses public data to highlight ...
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Dr. Jason Gordon, an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was interviewed at the National Forum to Advance Rural Education conference. Gordon discussed his former special education teacher background and current work preparing teacher candidates. He presented research on an apprenticeship model for teacher training. Gordon emphasized the importance of networking and collaboration between rural communit...
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Christopher Ligoni, executive director of the Indiana Small and Rural Schools Association, was interviewed at the National Farm to Advance Rural Education conference. He discussed innovative teaching models like Cosmos teacher sharing that help small, rural districts maximize resources. He touched on equity issues like broadband access and attracting talent to rural areas. Ligoni emphasized the importance of policymakers truly unde...
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