Resource allocation and instructional improvement strategies in rural single-school elementary districts

Although much of the press and research surrounding K-12 education focuses on the challenges surrounding large urban school districts, rural schools face many of the same issues and often have an even more difficult time marshaling the resources and expertise necessary to realize genuine instructional improvement (NSBA, 2007). With the current economic crisis and the significant number of California school districts that are failing to meet the goals outlined by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the efficient use of resources to drive instruction is more important than ever to small districts who may find themselves facing the threat of consolidation if their performance does not meet expectations. In small rural districts, financial concerns such as declining enrollment and outdated infrastructure combine with instructional issues such as professional development and teacher recruitment and retention to challenge performance. As a result, this study seeks to better understand the unique challenges facing small school districts, specifically studying their resource allocation and how it links to their instructional strategies and performance, by examining five rural single-school districts in California's Central Valley. The study uses both the Evidence-Based Model (EBM) detailed by Odden and Picus (2008) and Odden's (2009) Ten Strategies for Doubling Student Performance as organizational frameworks in the analysis of each district's resource use and implementation of instructional strategies. The results of the study support the efficient allocation of resources and implementation of research-based instructional strategies outlined in the EBM and Odden's work.