Looking Back at Ten Years of Rural Innovation

Nearly one in five students in the United States attend a rural school. These schools are critical institutions serving as the backbone of small communities and playing a pivotal role in educating the next generation of citizens. Despite their integral role and evolving demographics, rural schools often receive less attention and have access to fewer resources than their urban and suburban counterparts. Since 2018, Empower Schools has taken significant steps to change this disparity, starting with a transformative initiative in Premont, Texas. This systemic approach revitalized the local education system and brought new life to the community, ultimately preparing students for successful futures in an increasingly complex workforce.

Learning by Doing

As we celebrate 10 Years of Empowerment, we reflect on our journey in rural America.  In 2018, we supported the establishment of the Rural Schools Innovation Zone (RSIZ). This groundbreaking Rural Collaborative allows five rural school districts, five higher education partners, and local industry to come together in new ways so that all students in the region have access to robust college and career pathways aligned to community needs.  Since its inception, the RSIZ has significantly improved college and career readiness outcomes for students; ten times as many students are earning industry certifications and four times as many students are completing a dual credit course.

Our commitment to Rural Innovation is only growing. Since 2020, we have partnered with rural leaders to design and launch Rural Collaboratives across Colorado, including the Fremont Multidistrict Initiative, Western Slope Schools Career Collaborative, and the Southwest Colorado Education Collaborative. In 2024, we successfully supported these districts in pursuing $3 million from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade’s Opportunity Now Seed Grant. This historic investment builds on previous public and private investment and represents a commitment to an ambitious 3-year plan to serve 20 school districts in 12 rural counties, with seven higher education partners and the leading non-profits, businesses, and industry partners in each region.

How Policy Change Happens

Throughout our organization’s history, we’ve taken two distinct yet cyclical approaches to partnerships at the district and state levels.

• • • Empowered Partnerships are sustainable partnerships that enable transformative district schools where educators have the flexibility and accountability to make decisions that are right for their students, community, and staff. By working with community champions to strategize, incubate, and launch formal agreements, we create enabling conditions that allow educators to customize their schools to meet student needs, unlocking transformational outcomes through fundamentally different structures. We work with the community to analyze the needs and create innovations that will bring the best results.
  • • Policy and Thought Leadership is how we affect systemic change. We champion state-level policy change, host professional convenings, and provide support and advice to education leaders. We partner with education leaders and local champions to propose, interpret, leverage, and change education policy to catalyze structural shifts. 

The innovations supported by Empower Schools have profoundly impacted the communities they serve, creating this powerful feedback loop that enhances continual improvement and innovation. We worked with the Texas Education Agency to codify Rural Collaboratives and the results of the RSIZ inspired the 88th Texas Legislature to pass House Bill 2209, which established the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnerships (R-PEP), providing incentives to districts with fewer than 1600 students that collaborate with higher education and industry to offer shared college and career pathways aligned to high-wage, high-demand fields and rewarding them when their students complete a credential of value within five years. 

Successes such as the accomplishments achieved in South Texas go beyond individual student outcomes, influencing state-level policies to support and sustain rural innovation across the state and inspire similar efforts across the country. Since our founding, our collective efforts have reached 1.5 million students, a testament to our strategies’ effectiveness and the hard work of our dedicated partners on the ground.

What’s Next For Rural Education

Today, our work extends to rural districts across the country, representing diverse local approaches that are rooted in diverse perspectives from Louisiana to Indiana. We’re incredibly hopeful about the promising start to the first Rural Collaborative in Indiana, Rural Alliance Zone 32 (RAZ-32). This year, we helped RAZ-32 raise $1.1 million from institutions like the Randolph County Commissioners and Reid Health. These investments will pave the way to enabling meaningful historic career-connected learning pathways, directly expanding opportunities so students in East Central Indiana can excel in careers leading to family-sustaining wages. 

Our approach is proving effective, sustainable, and scalable. In our latest white paper, ELEVATING RURAL COLORADO, co-authored with Colorado Succeeds, Colorado Education Initiative,  and Lyra, we outline how Rural Collaboratives have worked in Colorado and what is needed most to build on the momentum:

“Armed with a shared vision, rural school district leaders were better positioned to leverage existing policies to advance their work, often by applying for competitive state grants enabled through policy. Eligible/awarded school districts receive funds to support costs required to initiate career-connected learning work, including: 

• • • • • • • Staffing and personnel 
            • Educator professional development, training, and certification 
            • Coaching and technical assistance  
            • Course equipment and materials
            • Student participation fees
            • Convenings and events”

That is precisely what we have planned for our next work phase with partners like RAZ-32. “The opportunities at 18 years old are completely different because of this model and the availability of pathways that were not there two years ago. It’s an incredible change in terms of earning capabilities for students and investment into the community,” says  Chad Bolser, Campus Chancellor at Ivy Tech Community College Richmond. 

By following us at Empower Schools, we can work together to tackle the next decade of Rural Innovation, Early College and Career Pathways, and Innovation Schools.