A Clarion Call- Rural Education Needs Assessment: Teacher and School Leader Voices (JSC v20 article 7)

Authors: Katey Franklin, Tena Versland, Sarah Wilson, and Tamara Tribett

Abstract

This study incorporated a needs assessment created in partnership between rural schools and university faculty to explore the perceptions school community members are experiencing and the needs of rural schools after the COVID-19 pandemic. The results highlight the need for access to school-based mental health care services and professionals, along with increasing mental health support for parents, guardians, and families. In contrast, teaching interventions for specific curricular areas; curricula implemented consistently across the school/district; classroom management strategies that create a positive learning environment and reduce conflict among students; and acquiring updated technology to support distance learning/virtual learning for students were viewed as less critical among rural teachers, leaders, and staff. The most urgent needs were similar among teachers and leaders (access to school-based mental health services and professionals, hiring more paraprofessionals to help provide 1:1 service for high-needs students, and increasing community mental health support for parents, guardians, and families). There was less agreement among teachers and leaders in terms of least urgent needs. Teachers identified classroom management strategies that create a positive learning environment and reduce conflict among students, effective instructional strategies that increase student engagement and make learning relevant, and teaching interventions to use in specific curricular areas, while school leaders suggested that redesigning the school structure/organization to provide deeper learning for students, acquiring updated technology to support distance learning/virtual learning for students, and curricula implemented consistently across the school/district to be of lesser importance. Building on these findings, implications for rural educators and communities are discussed.  

Keywords: rural schools, needs assessment, access to mental health services, mental health support, the need for paraprofessionals  

A Clarion Call 

Rural Education Needs Assessment: Teacher and School Leader Voices 

In partnership with federal, state, and local governments, the Smith-Lever Act (1914) established a system of extension field offices for land grant institutions that joined with agricultural community members to implement research and put new knowledge into practice. In the first few decades after, the needs of rural citizens and communities were addressed without the benefit of a formal and participatory needs assessment process. Instead, extension programs rolled out a series of predetermined programs that promoted improving crops and animals, fighting diseases and pests, beautifying homes and communities, establishing 4-H clubs, advancing public health and nutrition, developing community arts and recreation programs, establishing community gardens, and responding to emergency relief needs (Garst & McCawley, 2015, p. 31). By the 1970s, state extension programs understood the need to adopt systematic data collection processes that specifically addressed the diverse and regional needs of individual communities and citizens (Altschuld & Watkins, 2014). Building on this foundation, Gavazzi and Gee (2018) interviewed presidents and chancellors at some of America’s public land-grant institutions about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats faced by land-grant universities in the 21st century. Seven themes emerged from the qualitative data, detailing the following competing priorities: concerns about funding declines amid creating efficiencies in operations, research prowess vs. teaching and service excellence, pure knowledge vs applied focus of knowledge, emphasis on institution rankings vs. institutions’ access and affordability, addressing the needs of rural communities versus the needs of more urban places, global versus local impacts, and the benefits of higher education versus skepticism of the value of a college degree (Gavazzi & Gee, 2018). Upon review of the findings, the researchers advocated that those land-grant institutions should reflect more of a commitment to community-focused missions and serving their constituents while being especially cognizant of the needs of rural communities.  

In that spirit, schools of education associated with land-grant universities can fulfill the land-grant mission in two ways: (a) by preparing highly qualified teachers to address the diverse needs of students and their communities, and (b) by engaging with local schools to provide research and professional learning opportunities aimed at improving the educational experiences of all students (Sternburg, 2014). To determine students’ educational needs and those of local schools, it is useful to employ needs assessments designed specifically for the context and demographics of the communities and populations of interest (Watkins & Kavale, 2014). Needs assessments can be valuable in providing information surrounding the status quo, perceived strengths and weaknesses in a school system, and gaps in information and understanding (National Academy of Education, 2021; Stefaniak, 2021). It can also be argued that the sudden and intense onset of the COVID-19 pandemic compromised needs assessment processes, limiting thoughtful planning and execution of educational strategies as well as thorough analyses (National Academy of Education, 2021).  

Absent comprehensive strategies devised to understand and address the needs and concerns present due to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools, parents, educators, and school boards are left to sift through information warning of long-term health complications (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020), student mental health concerns (Shanahan et al., 2020), and teacher health concerns (Kaufman & Diliberti, 2021). These difficulties contributed to the differences in how schools approached educational decisions regarding online vs. face-to-face learning, and the appropriateness and accessibility of technology as a learning tool (Kuhfeld et al., 2020). Some schools lacked access to curricular materials that could be used or adapted to an online setting, making online/remote learning challenging for many students and families. In many rural areas, a lack of broadband access impeded small rural schools’ abilities to provide online options at all, requiring students to attend school in person amid greater exposure to the virus, or stay home and be homeschooled (Diemer & Park, 2022). However, homeschooling children presented an imperfect solution for many rural families who did not possess working technology in their homes to access online and independent curricular options, creating even larger questions of learning loss and growing inequity in educational opportunities in rural places (Diemer & Park, 2022; Engzell et al., 2021; Kuhfeld et al., 2020). The challenges compounded and created by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in rural areas, require urgent and comprehensive solutions based on evidence collected from reliable needs assessments. 

Atschuld and Watkins (2014) articulate the concept of need as a measurable gap between two conditions of what exists presently and the possibility of what could be, or what stakeholders would like to see in the future. McCawley (2009) explains that a “needs assessment can be considered a systematic approach to studying the level of knowledge, ability, interest, or attitudes of a defined audience or group involving a particular subject. A needs assessment also provides a method to learn what has already been done and what gaps in learning remain” (p. 3). McCawley (2009) also identifies two common goals for needs assessments: 1) identifying the problems or concerns of stakeholders, and 2) determining appropriate responses of services and programs. As schools and communities have returned to pre-pandemic modes of operation, researchers continue to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on students, educators, families, and even their communities (Kaufman & Diliberti, 2021; National Academy of Education, 2021). Therefore, investigating and assessing the post-pandemic conditions in schools and communities, as well as the achievement gaps and social-emotional needs of students, remains critical. 

Conducting needs assessments targeting these areas may provide direction regarding the resources, support, and professional learning required to bolster the next phase of educational change.  

Moreover, needs assessments have become useful tools in determining the gaps between current conditions and desired outcomes in schools (Watkins & Kavale, 2014). A school’s needs assessment process collects appropriate data to evaluate programs, identifies concerns to determine a course of action for schools, organizations, and communities (Kaufman et al., 1993). When done well, needs assessments are effective means to facilitate decision-making. Atshuld and Watkins (2014) suggest that “community members and other project stakeholders should be involved in the needs assessment processes” (p. 4). They also recommend that having a “participatory approach to data gathering and decision making can contribute to more informed and better decisions for the community as well as increased acceptance of final decisions” (Atshuld & Watkins, 2014, p. 5). The value of promoting community and stakeholder engagement in schools’ evaluative and decision-making processes is also reflected the U.S. federal law. The Department of Education’s Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) requires states and local communities to conduct a needs assessment across major programs including Title I, Part A (Comprehensive Support and Improvement), Title II, Part B (Comprehensive Literacy Development), Title IV, Part A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment), Part F (Full Service Community Schools) and Title IX, Part B2 (Preschool Development Grants) and to provide for the unique needs of each states’ students, schools, and communities. Data collected through local needs assessments are designed to reflect the unique context of each school district. This information can inform the development and implementation of educational plans aimed at maximizing learning opportunities for students in that district.  

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, classroom management has been difficult as student’s behavior has become more challenging (Gülmez & Ordu, 2022; National Center for Education Statistics, 2022; Van Rensburg et al., 2024). Schools in the United States reported that students' socio-emotional and behavioral development had been negatively impacted by COVID-19 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2022). Van Rensburg et al. (2024) found that many teachers reported they struggled with increased problematic physical, verbal, and academic behaviors after the pandemic and the return to school. The National Center for Education Statistics (2022) found that tardiness and classroom disruptions from student misconduct were the most frequent behaviors reported by schools. With this increase in challenging behaviors, teachers and schools are approaching how to handle them differently (Gülmez & Ordu, 2022; Van Rensburg et al., 2024). Some teachers use a more authoritative approach to prevent behaviors, others report trying to be understanding of students and their behavior. While every teacher has their own classroom management style, most agree that using a more proactive model is better at preventing behaviors; however, when asked, teachers report using a more reactive mode most of the time (Van Rensburg et al., 2024). As schools are adapting to how students’ behaviors have changed since the pandemic, teachers are facing new challenges and are required to be flexible and adjust to provide the best learning possible (Gülmez & Ordu, 2022; National Center for Education Statistics, 2022; Van Rensburg et al., 2024). 

Although more research has become available detailing the needs of schools and students following COVID-19, much of the literature focuses on urban and suburban communities and schools. Even before COVID-19, research on the needs of rural students, educators, and schools was scant (LaValley, 2018). Therefore, in fulfilling the land-grant mission of a university located in Montana, a rural state that is 48th in population density, we (the researchers) implemented an outreach strategy to conduct a needs assessment. This assessment aimed to identify the current needs of rural schools and communities by gathering insights from rural teachers and school leaders, considering the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Rural School Community Mental Health 

In Montana, 148,585 children were enrolled in a public school during the 2023-2024 school year; of those students, 45,131 were enrolled in high school (Montana Office of Public Instruction [MTOPI], n.d.). Every 2 years, the Montana Office of Public Instruction publishes a report on youth risk behaviors that surveys high schoolers across the state on various health behavior topics (MTOPI, 2024). Questions are sorted into seven categories: injury and violence, substance use, sexual behavior, nutrition and eating behavior, physical activity, obesity, overweight and weight control, and other topics. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a resource for understanding youth attitudes and behaviors as it helps address health issues affecting young people today (MTOPI, 2024). The survey also includes questions related to students' mental health needs to gain a better idea of how prevalent this issue is in Montana. Survey results suggest that poor mental health is common for high school students (MTOPI, 2024). Students reported that during the past 30 days, their mental health was unwell, meaning they were experiencing stress, anxiety, and/or depression. Of those surveyed, 10.2% said their mental health was always unwell, 22% said most of the time they experienced poor mental health, and 28.1% said sometimes their mental health was poor (MTOPI, 2024).  

In addition, many students reported feeling depressed and showing signs of suicide (MTOPI, 2024). When asked, 42.8% of students said they felt so sad or hopeless that they stopped doing their usual activities for two weeks in the past 12 months (MTOPI, 2024). Also, many students reported having suicidal behaviors. Specifically, 25.7% of students stated they had seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 months, and 22% of students reported that they had made a plan about how they would attempt suicide (MTOPI, 2024). The number of Montana high school students who attempted suicide went up from 10.2% in 2021 to 15.1% in 2023 (MTOPI, 2024). Of students who had attempted suicide, 31.2% had a suicide attempt that resulted in an injury, poisoning, or overdose that had to be treated by a doctor or nurse (MTOPI, 2024).  

Suicide is the number one cause of preventable death for children ages 10-14, and Montana has ranked in the top five for suicide completion rates in the nation for the past 30 years (CDC, 2023; DPHHS, 2024). Montana has a high suicide completion rate for many reasons. These include altitude, socioeconomic factors, vitamin D deficiency, social isolation, access to lethal means (guns), stigma about mental health, alcohol as a coping strategy, and lack of behavioral health services. Within a typical high school classroom, it is likely that three students (one boy and two girls) have made a suicide attempt in the last year. The biggest factor associated with adolescent suicidal ideation is parental disconnect (not feeling validated or accepted by their parents; DPHHS, 2024). 

The use of substances is another risky behavior assessed by the YRBS. High schoolers reported that 9.3% of them had been currently smoking cigarettes in the past 30 days, and 6.1% of students reported using smokeless tobacco in the past 30 days (MTOPI, 2024). However, the use of electronic vapor products was much higher, with 29.5% of students using one during the past 30 days (MTOPI, 2024). Of those students, 12.6% used electronic vapor products in 20 or more of the past 30 days (MTOPI, 2024). The number of students who reported drinking alcohol was also prevalent, with 28.7% of students reporting they currently drank alcohol and 18.2% of students reporting they currently were binge drinking (MTOPI, 2024). Students reported that 21.3% were currently using marijuana, and 13.5% of students reported they had taken prescription pain medicine without a doctor’s prescription or differently than how a doctor told them to use it (MTOPI, 2024). Based on the survey results, youth risk behaviors are not only prevalent in Montana but continue to grow, mainly related to suicide and mental health needs (MTOPI, 2024). 

In Montana, 9,265 students graduated from a public high school during the 2022-2023 school year (MTOPI, n.d.). This cohort, comprised of students who entered ninth grade simultaneously and those who transferred to the school during the four years, has a graduation rate of 85.6% (MTOPI, n.d.). Of this cohort, 1,370 students did not complete high school in the four years, including students taking an extra fifth year to finish (MTOPI, n.d.). The dropout rate for Montana public schools during the school year 2022-2023 was 2.65%. One thousand seven hundred forty-seven students were in the 9th-12th grade when they dropped out, and 88 students were in the 7th-8th grade when they dropped out (MTOPI, n.d.). Most students who dropped out identified as White, American Indian, or Alaskan Native (MTOPI, n.d.). Given these findings, we determined it was crucial to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment in Montana’s rural school settings to better understand and address the unique challenges schools are facing, particularly now in light of implications from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Purpose and Research Question 

The purpose of the study was to partner with rural schools to co-create and disseminate a needs assessment that examines the difficulties school community members are contending with considering COVID-19. The most recent survey of youth risk behaviors suggests that challenges exist in schools (MTOPI, 2024). However, we aimed to investigate how these challenges may have been influenced by COVID-19. As faculty researchers at a land grant university that has a strong commitment to its community-focused mission, we felt a responsibility to reach out to our constituents in our rural state. Using well-established university-school district partnerships, we invited rural school partners (teachers and school leaders) to collaborate in the development of a needs assessment to investigate the needs of students, teachers, districts, and communities considering COVID-19 impacts. We then distributed the needs assessment in rural schools to collect the data. The research question of our investigation was: What are the perceptions of rural school community needs as identified by teachers and school leaders? 

Methodology 

In partnership with rural school districts, we developed a needs assessment to gather insights on the needs of rural students, teachers, and school communities, as perceived by rural teachers and school leaders. Conducted in Montana, where small rural districts comprise 96% of all public-school districts, the needs assessment aimed to address the unique challenges of a state that is the fourth largest in land mass but ranks 48th in population density (Showalter et al., 2017). Community-based participatory research (CBPR) was well-suited for this investigation given the mission of our land-grant institution, our partnerships with rural school districts, and the collaborative development of a needs assessment instrument. 

Community-Based Participatory Research as a Framework 

Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) is a collaborative research approach that “equitably involves all partners in the research process, recognizing the unique strengths that each brings” (Minkler & Wallerstein, 2008, p. 4). As researchers using CBPR, shared leadership was highly emphasized between us as academic researchers and the community members during the planning and implementation of the study, as well as the analysis and discussion of results and implications (Wallerstein & Duran, 2003). We used the CBPR design to integrate the perspectives and experiences of rural teachers and school leaders to help us understand the needs of rural students, schools, and communities. As stakeholders in the school community, rural teachers and school leaders are knowledgeable about the needs of rural students and schools. We also chose CBPR as a framework for this study because it is regarded as a means of increasing social justice through promoting agency to underserved groups and populations (Wallerstein & Duran, 2003). Collaborating with communities using CBPR offers opportunities that “empower communities to address the root causes of inequity and identify their own problems and appropriate solutions” (Coughlin et al., 2017, p. 3). Moreover, the significance of this study lies in the potential for its results to inform rural educators, university partners, and other state/local agency groups to strategically plan and advocate for the necessary changes to address the issues facing rural schools and communities. We relied on the philosophical underpinnings of CBPR throughout the research process as evidenced in the research procedures below. 

Research Procedures 

In alignment with CBPR principles, a post-pandemic literature review was conducted to identify the common impacts and needs of school communities. Following this, key informants, including four teachers, three principals, and two superintendents, were recruited from school communities. These informants participated in focus groups to develop a needs assessment, drawing on both the literature review findings and their lived experiences. The completed needs assessment was then submitted to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval. 

Upon receiving IRB approval, the assessment was electronically distributed to educators across Montana, resulting in 346 completed surveys, of which 236 were finalized for analysis. Descriptive statistical analysis was performed using the collected data to identify key trends and insights. To ensure the accuracy and relevance of the findings, a final focus group was conducted with the nine identified key informants who participated in the original focus groups. The final focus group session validated the data analysis and provided feedback on the results. 

Development of the Needs Assessment Instrument and Participants 

In the initial stage of developing the needs assessment instrument, the principal investigators first reviewed literature on recent educational needs assessments with special attention paid to those assessments relating to rural schools and communities (Altschuld & Watkins, 2014; LaValley, 2018; Lee et al., 2009). We also reviewed literature from the Center for Disease Control (2020) and other researchers (Diemer & Park, 2022; Engzell et al., 2021; Shanahan et al., 2020) related to the COVID-19 pandemic and effects on schools. We then selected the topics that had the greatest number of mentions in the literature including: learning loss, student mental health needs, social/emotional/ behavioral concerns, technology necessary to online learning, family well-being, school infrastructure needs, and educator training (CDC, 2020; Diemer & Park, 2021; Engzell et al., 2021; Kaufman & Diliberti, 2021; Kaul et al., 2020; Kuhfeld et al., 2020; Meyers, 2021).  

Participants who Co-Created the Needs Assessment  

We then recruited nine individuals from eight rural school districts who had previously collaborated with us on research about teacher recruitment and retention. Because of our previous research endeavors, we have enjoyed long-standing relationships with teachers and school leaders from the eight partnering rural school districts. We identified key informants (Garst & McCawley, 2015),local rural educators with specific knowledge and expertise in their schools and communities from our partnering districts, to participate in the literature review and needs assessment creation. Nine educators (four teachers, three principals, and two superintendents) agreed to participate. The participants represented rural school districts serving as few as 87 students to as many as 1,100 students in rural communities across the state and near reservations. The age of the nine participants ranged from 27 to 59 years; six identified as female and three identified as male. Their years of experience serving rural schools ranged from 4 years to 34 years and all were presently living in the communities where they worked. 

These partners participated in two virtual focus group meetings that supported the creation of the needs assessment. In the first meeting, the focus group participants reviewed the topics we chose from the literature regarding the pandemic and weighed in on the importance of those topics to their rural communities and the experiences of students and teachers. For the second meeting, we asked the nine participants to talk with their educator colleagues in their schools to brainstorm additional topics they thought should be included in a rural needs assessment. Following the second focus group and more discussion about the structure of the needs assessment itself, the researchers utilized participant ideas and feedback and created items for the needs assessment. Items were placed into four categories (student needs, teacher needs, school district needs, and community needs) with seven items in each category for a total of 28 items. Demographic questions asking about age, gender, years’ experience, job role, and number of students served in the districts were also included. 

An Institutional Review Board was secured for the needs assessment, and it was then piloted with the nine focus group participants and 15 other educators in rural schools across the state. The pilot revealed that no changes in item wording or structure of the needs assessment were needed. The Cronbach’s alpha for the instrument was .91. The needs assessment was then sent out electronically to rural school administrators and teachers across the state in May 2022. Prior to the survey distribution, approval was obtained from the university’s Institutional Review Board. There were 236 fully completed surveys. Understanding that rurality is context dependent (Thier et al., 2021), the researchers only included responses from districts with fewer than 1,000 people. The final sample consisted of 236 participants. 

Participants who Completed the Needs Assessment 

Teachers and school leaders are critical in the early detection of and intervention in mental health concerns affecting students and their families (Henderson Smith et al., 2023; Maclean & Law, 2022). As such, the final needs assessment was disseminated to a group of educators with varying demographics and experience in the field. Among participants who completed the needs assessment (n=236), 57% were teachers, 33% were administrators, and 10% were neither teachers nor administrators but worked at the school (this includes but is not limited to curriculum directors, special education co-op personnel, and school counselors). Among respondents, 68% of respondents were female, 32% were male, and less than 1% did not include their gender. We asked participants to indicate all the grade levels they had taught over their career as an educator with 69% having taught K-5th, 74% having taught 6th-8th grades, 56% having taught 9th-12th grades, and 6% having taught postsecondary education. Participants have spent an average of 20 years (SD=11.33) in education and 10 years (SD=9.41) in their current position. Participants were asked to indicate which region of the state they lived in. Twenty-five percent of respondents were from the Northeast, 13% were from the southeast, 24% were from northcentral, 13% were from southcentral, 6% were from the northwest, and 19% were from the southwest region of the state. Sixty-six percent of participants received their bachelor's degree from an institution in Montana whereas 34% received their degree from out of state. Forty percent received their masters/doctorate from an institution in state, 31% received their degree from a college outside of Montana, and 29% have not yet obtained a masters/doctorate degree. Finally, participants were asked how many students were in their district with 10% indicating that their district had 50 or fewer students, 29% had 51-150 students, 28% had 151–400 students, and 33% had 401-1,000 students. 

Data Analysis 

Like other needs assessments in education and related fields, we did basic descriptive analyses to explore the perceptions of needs within the state. Descriptive statistics are the appropriate analysis as we attempt to “summarize, organize, and simplify data” (Gravetter & Wallnau, 2017, p. 5). Due to the original responses (negligible, minor, moderate, and urgent), frequencies and corresponding percentages were reported. Following the descriptive statistical analysis, we conducted one final focus group with the participants who co-created the needs assessment to perform a member check (Lincoln & Guba, 1986). To ensure the accuracy of the findings, we asked them about their reaction to the data and whether the results seemed to represent what they had already seen in their schools. All nine participants reported that the data accurately captured what they were seeing and experiencing in their schools during and immediately following the pandemic.  

Findings  

Overall, the results suggest dire needs in rural school communities (see Table 1). The items most identified as moderate or urgent across all participants (teachers, leaders, and other school personnel in rural schools; n=236) included: more access to school-based mental health services and professionals (82%), increasing community mental health support for parents, guardians, and families (81%), classroom activities targeting gifted/ talented and/or advanced learners (77%), and hiring more paraprofessionals to help provide 1:1 services for high social/emotional behavioral needs students (75%). 

Table 1 

Percentages of Participants Indicating Moderate/Urgent Needs 

Of the 28 items, all but four items were considered 50% for moderate and urgent. These items included developing community-based programs that assist families in overcoming food insecurity (49%), acquiring updated technology to support distance learning/virtual learning for students (48%), redesigning the school structure/organization to provide deeper learning for students (4-day-week, multi-grade offering, grade level schools (48%), and classroom management strategies that create a positive learning environment and reduce conflict among students (46%). 

When only examining the needs that all survey respondents (teachers, leaders, and other school personnel in rural schools) considered urgent (see Table 2), the top priorities were more access to school-based mental health services and professionals (49%), increasing community mental health support for parents, guardians, and families (44%), hiring more paraprofessionals to help provide 1:1 services for high needs students (43%), effective school-based interventions/programs to address behavioral concerns (36%), social-emotional learning curricula to help students navigate personal and societal challenges (36%), increasing early childhood education programs/pre-school to support working parents (34%), and creating school-based systems to address students’ physical and mental health (32%). 

Table 2 

Percentage of Participants Indicating Urgent Needs Only 

Further, we examined which items had the lowest percentage of all participants indicating the identified need was not urgent (see Table 3). These included teaching interventions to use in specific curricular areas (ex. - reading, writing, math, etc.; 11%), curricula implemented consistently across the school/district (12%), classroom management strategies that create a positive learning environment and reduce conflict among students (13%), acquiring updated technology to support distance learning/virtual learning for students (13%), effective instructional strategies that increase student engagement and make learning relevant (14%), partnering with universities to address community vitality and the well-being of all citizens (14%), developing community-based programs that assist families in overcoming food insecurity (14%), effective academic interventions to meet state and national standards (15%), and finally redesigning the school structure/organization to provide deeper learning for students (4-day-week, multi grade offering, grade level schools; 17%). 

Table 3 

Percentage of Participants Indicating Lowest Urgent Needs  

Teachers’ Perceptions of Needs 

Among teachers (n=135) the needs with the largest number of teachers indicating that they were urgent were: more access to school-based mental health services and professionals (48%), hiring more paraprofessionals to help provide 1:1 services for high needs students (46%), increasing community mental health support for parents, guardians, and families (41%), increasing early childhood education programs/pre-school to support working parents (39%), increasing early childhood education programs/pre-school to support working parents (39%), social emotional learning curricula to help students navigate personal and societal challenges (39%), updating electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems in the school (35%), and creating school-based systems to address students’ physical and mental health (33%; see Table 4).  

Table 4 

Teachers Percentage of Participants Indicating Urgent Needs 

Teachers identified the least urgent needs as classroom management strategies that create a positive learning environment and reduce conflict among students (7%), effective instructional strategies that increase student engagement and make learning relevant (9%), teaching interventions to use in specific curricular areas (ex. - reading, writing, math, etc.; 11%), curricula implemented consistently across the school/district (14%), developing community-based programs that assist families in overcoming food insecurity (15%), effective academic interventions to meet state and national standards (16%), partnering with universities to address community vitality, and the well-being of all citizens (16%), acquiring updated technology to support distance learning/virtual learning for students (18%), and more opportunities for cross grade level collaboration to address specific instructional or curricular goals within the school/district (22%; see Table 5). 

Table 5 

Teachers Percentage of Participants Indicating Lowest Urgent Needs 

Leaders' Perceptions of Needs 

Among school leaders (n=77; i.e., school principals, curriculum directors, special education co-op personnel, and school counselors) the most urgent needs included more access to school-based mental health services and professionals (45%), increasing community mental health support for parents, guardians, and families (40%), hiring more paraprofessionals to help provide 1:1 services for high needs students (35%), social emotional learning curricula to help students navigate personal and societal challenges (31%), creating school-based systems to address students’ physical and mental health (27%), effective school-based interventions/programs to address behavioral concerns (26%), induction programs that provide continuous learning and mentoring for new teachers or teachers new to a  district (26%), classroom activities targeting gifted/talented and/or advanced learners (25%) social emotional learning curricula to help students develop resiliency and independence (25%), increasing early childhood education programs/pre-school to support working parents (25%), and coordinating community resources to better address drug, alcohol, and domestic abuse issues (25%; see Table 6).  

Table 6 

Leaders Percentage of Participants Indicating Urgent Needs 

In contrast, items designated as the lowest urgent needs were identified as redesigning the school structure/organization to provide deeper learning for students (4-day-week, multi grade offering, grade level schools; 4%), acquiring updated technology to support distance learning /virtual learning for students (7%), curricula implemented consistently across the school/district (9%), creating access to high quality internet and online learning opportunities (10%), effective academic interventions to meet state and national standards (10%), developing community-based programs that assist families in overcoming food insecurity (12%), partnering with universities to address community vitality, and the well-being of all citizens (12%), teaching interventions to use in specific curricular areas (ex. - reading, writing, math, etc.; 12%), and more opportunities for cross grade level collaboration to address specific instructional or curricular goals within the school/district (13%; see Table 7).  

Table 7 

Leaders Percentage of Participants Indicating Lowest Urgent Needs 

Discussion 

Using CBPR as the guiding framework and aligning with three of the authors’ land grant institution's values, we collaborated with teachers and school leaders to develop a needs assessment focused on rural school needs after the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the reasons we looked at school and community needs through the eyes of educators is that they are uniquely positioned to observe children and families daily. The success of identifying and addressing mental health concerns in students and their families heavily depends on the proactive involvement of teachers and school leaders (Henderson Smith et al., 2023; Maclean & Law, 2022). Equally, many students may confide in their teachers and administrators when they are concerned about issues at home, looking for reassurance that their concerns will be addressed. The finalized needs assessment was disseminated to educators and school leaders in rural school districts across Montana.  

The results of this investigation validate the survey findings reported by MTOPI that explored Montana youth risk behaviors. The MTOPI (2024) YRBS suggested that poor mental health is common among high school students, with many experiencing stress, anxiety, and depression. A significant number of students reported feeling so sad or hopeless that they stopped their usual activities. The YRBS reported that over 20% of youth respondents have seriously considered suicide or had made a plan to attempt it, with the rate of actual suicide attempts increasing from 2021 to 2023. The survey also indicated substance use is a noteworthy concern (MTOPI, 2024). The participants who responded to the survey discussed in the MTOPI (2024) YRBS report were Montana youth. Our investigation indicates that teachers and school leaders in rural schools are witnessing these mental health crises firsthand, as evidenced by the needs assessment’s mental health items rated as urgent across all participants.  

The results of the needs assessment indicate that participants believe all critical needs are related to the mental health of students and families. Most participants found the survey item, more access to school-based mental health services and professionals, to be an urgent need, regardless of their role in the school. Additionally, most respondents across all groups said there is an urgent need to increase community mental health support programs for parents, guardians, and families. While many schools may have been focused on increasing access to broadband and technology as a means of improving school-related and economic outcomes during the pandemic (Diemer & Park, 2022; Kuhfeld et al., 2020), rural teachers and leaders identified their communities’ mental and physical health infrastructure as well as social services as their most critical needs that, if resourced well, could improve the schools’ and communities’ responses to the problems encountered by families.  

The needs assessment revealed that both school leaders and teachers call for systemic-level interventions to support students’ behavioral, academic, and social emotional needs. Most respondents rated the need for the hiring of more school counselors and paraprofessionals, the need for effective school-based interventions that address behavioral concerns, the need for social emotional learning curricula, and the need for creating school-based systems that address students’ physical and mental health as urgent. This substantiates previous research that suggests there is an increase in students’ problematic physical, verbal, and academic behaviors, leading to challenges in classroom management for teachers (Gülmez & Ordu, 2022; National Center for Education Statistics, 2022; Van Rensburg et al., 2024). Given the significant impact of the pandemic, both rural school leaders and teachers recognize the need for a systemic-level response of equal magnitude. 

All but four items on the needs assessment were considered 50% for moderate and urgent. Surprisingly, developing community-based programs that assist families in overcoming food insecurity was not considered an urgent or moderate need. Similarly, acquiring updated technology to support distance learning/virtual learning for students, redesigning the school structure/organization to provide deeper learning for students (4-day-week, multi grade offering, grade level schools), and classroom management strategies that create a positive learning environment and reduce conflict among students were not critical. We hypothesize that this may be due to several factors: teachers and school leaders may perceive these items as already well-supported in rural school districts, the participants' expertise and experience in the field may reduce their view of these areas as high-need, or the pressing student mental health issues might overshadow these items, making them seem less relevant in addressing daily crises. 

Limitations 

While this study provides valuable information for rural schools and communities several limitations should be acknowledged. First, the survey and focus groups took place following the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, the results are important because they highlight the needs of teachers, leaders, and school staff during this time, but the needs may change over time. It is also not known how the federal and state funds available to schools post-COVID may have influenced the perception of needs. Finally, as previously noted, rural communities and states are diverse in their composition and needs. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether these results would apply to other rural contexts.  

Recommendations 

There is a need to respond to the clarion call of the rural educators: we need to urgently address the mental health needs of rural students in the school setting. The response must be systemic, focusing on increasing access to mental health prevention and intervention resources for students. It should also extend to the larger school community, including parents and guardians. The response can be actualized by increasing the number of licensed school counselors in the school settings and lowering the required ratio of school counselor to student from 400:1 to 250:1 in rural settings, which is the nationally recommended ratio (American School Counseling Association, 2024). This action would necessitate collaboration between the national and/or state professional organization and a state legislator to create and carry a bill to advocate for the redefinition of the school counselor-to-student ratio. Licensed school counselors are comprehensively trained to implement a comprehensive school counseling program that meets the academic, social/emotional, and career development needs of every student. Moreover, a school counselor can provide or make referrals to both preventative and interventive mental health care for all students and community members.  

As part of their clarion call, the rural educators emphasized a need for systemic mental health support for the larger rural school community, including student’s parents and guardians. It is well established that there is a dire need for increased mental health services in rural communities (Rural Health Information Hub, 2022). As the school is often the hub of a rural community, we recommend consideration of a large-scale expansion of the rural mental health preparation/practice pathway model (Elliott et al., 2024) to address the workforce shortages common in rural places. Counselor educator training programs in higher education are poised to play a critical role in addressing rural school community mental health needs and can partner with rural school districts to provide counseling services to both students and adults in the school community. As a 100-hour clinical practicum and 600-hour internship are required in CACREP accredited masters in counseling training programs, graduate training programs can partner with rural school districts to place school and mental health graduate students in the school setting to provide both prevention and intervention mental health services.  Oftentimes, there are no mental health providers or school counselors in rural school settings to provide these services to students and the rural school communities. To fulfill this identified urgent need, counselor training programs can provide the clinical supervision required and support for graduate students to provide mental health services to the rural school communities.  

School connectedness can be a protective factor in student mental health and wellbeing. Student who feel connected to their school have better mental health; including but not limited to lower sexual health risk, substance use, and instances of violence (CDC, 2024). School connectedness is when students feel that adults and peers in school care about their learning in addition to them as individuals, “this includes a sense of being cared for, being supported, and belonging at school” (CDC, 2024, para. 1).  Adult educators, including paraeducators, in the school building play a profound role in a student’s lives and their sense of school connectedness. Students report that having a non-judgmental trusted adult in the school setting who is available to listen to them when they are struggling would enhance their mental health and wellbeing (Franklin & Tribitt, 2024). Importantly, we are not advocating for teachers to act as counselors. Rather, we are saying that educators can facilitate the creation and maintenance of a safe and supportive school environment that can enhance school connectedness and student’s mental health. This can be actualized in intentional professional development trainings for educators, which focus on understanding the power and importance of school connectedness, mental health manifestations in student behaviors, emotional regulation and co-regulation, and emotion-focused classroom management. There is no single, definitive intervention that can fully address the mental health needs of rural students. Rather, educators can deepen their understanding of the significant role they play in supporting the wellbeing of their students and the broader rural school community. This perspective and understanding may unburden educators from feeling overwhelmed by student’s mental health needs as they discover the simplicity and power of an informed and supportive relationship with their students.  

Lastly, collaboration across all stakeholders is essential in addressing the urgent mental health needs of students in rural schools. While school counselors are equipped with specialized training to work alongside teachers, school leaders, and community organizations (ASCA, 2024), everyone plays a critical role in fostering these system-changing partnerships. The collaborative effort required to create and conduct the needs assessment in this study mirrors the kind of systemic collaboration needed to develop and implement effective mental health supports for students. Working together to proactively enhance mental health awareness, provide timely interventions, and connect students to long-term community resources may be a path to creating a supportive network that promotes rural student well-being and success. 

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