Functions

• Coordinate and conduct research and development activities that address the unique needs of rural and small schools.
  
  
• Develop strategies and delivery systems for meeting the educational needs of small schools and rural communities.
  
  
• Coordinate and disseminate information about and for rural education.
  
  
• Develop and maintain cooperative relationships with state, regional, and national agencies, organizations, and institutions with interests in rural education.
  
  
• Provide a forum for discussion of issues, practices, and problems by concerned parties through the annual Rural and Small School Education Conference.
  
  
• Serve as an advocate for rural education and represent the interests of rural and small schools at the state, regional and national levels.
  
  
• Provide leadership and serve as an initiator of workshops and seminars that relate to rural education and the needs of rural educators.
  
  
• Recognize individual excellence among rural/small school administrators by way of the annual Kansas Outstanding Rural Administrator Award and in the creativity in development and utilization of educational programs through the Award of Excellence for the Outstanding Teacher Initiated Project for the Rural School.
  
  
• Serve as a brokerage for nationally developed curricular programs and validated practices for rural/small schools.
  
  
• Provide consultation services for rural/small schools. The services, arranged on a fee basis, include facility studies, curriculum development, inservice for teachers and administrators, measurement of student progress and community surveys, among others.