With increasing scrutiny of rural America and its lagging educational outcomes, it’s time to consider new, innovative approaches to improving and expanding education opportunity in rural communities. That is the conclusion of a new whitepaper issued by the Center for Education Reform (CER), which offers several vital “ingredients” needed to transform education to serve all populations in rural America.

“We are building a new ecosystem to deliver better education to children, families, and communities in rural areas where resources can be scarce,” said Jeanne Allen, founder and CEO of CER. “The goal is to make education opportunities accessible for learners of all levels, all across the country — regardless of income, regardless of zip code.”

The paper states: “If diverse groups of citizens and leaders from all sectors of life come together to expand and enhance educational opportunities in rural communities, school quality will improve, student outcomes will improve, and increasingly impoverished and desolate communities will be able to revive their once productive economies.”