National Rural Education Association Official Podcast - S01E04 -- The Four Day School Week, Benefits and Disadvantages. An Interview with Dr. Jon Turner

S01E04 -- The Four Day School Week, Benefits and Disadvantages. An Interview with Dr. Jon Turner

02/13/20 • 43 min

National Rural Education Association Official Podcast

In this episode of the Rural Voice, Drs Pratt and Bigham interview Dr. Jon Turner, Assistant Professor of Counseling, Leadership, and Special Education at Missouri State University on his research regarding the four-day school week. In this episode, Dr. Turner discusses his research related to the benefits and disadvantages of the four-day school week and the various forms of implementation around the United States. Dr. Turner discusses the potential saving of the four-day school in terms of salary, gas, and utility expenses but cautions that many school systems refuse to lay off teachers or staff and therefore do not capitalize on the cost savings of reduced salary. Nevertheless, Dr. Turner suggests that the educational benefits to students are apparent and that many older teachers apply to work in such systems given the three-day weekend. Dr. Turner concludes by suggesting the need for equity of salaries of teachers within a geographic area would help attract talent to rural school systems when compared to urban or suburban salaries. For more information on Dr. Turner's research or research on the four day work week, please go to http://www.fourdayweek.us

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S01E03 -- Extra-Curricular Activities in Rural Education

In this episode of the Rural Voice, all three co-hosts discuss the importance of extra-curricular activities for not only teaching teamwork and social norms but also building community. The co-hosts share their own experiences with extra-curricular activities both as students as well as teachers and administrators. They discuss how these programs have changed and some of the challenges experienced by small schools in offering such programs. They talk about how these programs vary and the role they play in creating meaning for students by offering activities to keep kids out of trouble.

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Responding to COVID-19, Pandemics, and Other Challenges in Rural Education

In this episode of the Rural Education Podcast, Drs. Bigham, Allen, and Silver discuss the current state of rural education in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The co-hosts discuss the challenges with addressing the pandemic given the little time to prepare in addressing large and small school districts, as well as the budgetary and logistical issues of moving curriculum from the classroom to online and distance-based learning. They discuss the current closure trends of schools, offering snapshot statistics on how schools are responding. They also discuss the purpose of the interim measures and how these decisions may impact learning long term. They discuss the current adoption of distance learning technologies and some pitfalls teachers, parents, and administrators should consider as they quickly adopt these technologies. They also discuss comparisons among the decisions made by our international colleagues in responding to the virus. They conclude by offering some insights and advice on how to react and some suggestions for coping with the current crisis.