University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies Releases White Paper on Rural Schooling Characteristics

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies has released a new white paper, “The G.R.O.W. Generating Rural Opportunities in the Workforce™ Report and Probing the Unique Characteristics of Rural Schooling: A Narrative Inquiry,” by James Lane, Ed.D., senior research fellow with the University’s Center for Educational and Instructional Technology Research (CEITR). In the paper, the author analyzes G.R.O.W. Generating Rural Opportunities in the Workforce™ report findings to contextual a narrative study of significant experiences and insights of current and retired educators who teach or have taught within small rural distant schools, in order to better understand characteristics that make these schools unique fabrics within the American educational tapestry.

“The narrative inquiry revealed shared characteristics in rural areas even though the participants were geographically disparate,” Lane shares. “The findings may provide value to those leading rural schools as well as those who train and prepare rural educators, and who shape public policies impacting those communities.”

Applying an analytical mode of narrative inquiry, Lane delves into experiences of rural educators and identifies similar characteristics including care, community and family, as well as limited college and career preparation, with contributors of geographic isolation and poverty. The author offers context for the narrative inquiry through related data findings from the G.R.O.W. report, which revealed distinctions between rural and urban workforce, their demographic makeup, and their career perspectives.

Lane is a faculty member in the College of Doctoral Studies ACCESS program, facilitating doctoral courses and serving dissertation committees as panel validator, and has worked with University of Phoenix since 2006 in various roles. He served as a public school educator for 37 years as an English teacher, district language arts supervisor, and middle school assistant principal and principal. Lane earned his doctorate in Educational Leadership at University of South Florida, where he also completed a master’s in Educational Leadership, a master of arts in English, and a bachelor’s degree in English-Mass Communications Education.

The full white paper is available on the University of Phoenix Career Institute® webpage or as a direct link here.

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About the College of Doctoral Studies

University of Phoenix’s College of Doctoral Studies focuses on today’s challenging business and organizational needs, from addressing critical social issues to developing solutions to accelerate community building and industry growth. The College’s research program is built around the Scholar, Practitioner, Leader Model which puts students in the center of the Doctoral Education Ecosystem® with experts, resources and tools to help prepare them to be a leader in their organization, industry and community. Through this program, students and researchers work with organizations to conduct research that can be applied in the workplace in real time.