Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress International Special Education Conference Inclusion: Celebrating Diversity? 1st - 4th August 2005. Glasgow, Scotland

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Running head:   American Council on Rural Special Education

The American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES):  
Organizing at the Grass Roots

Mary Susan E. Fishbaugh
MSU-Billings, Billings, MT
mfishbaugh@msubillings.edu
Kate Mitchem
West Virginia University, Morgantown,WV
kjmitch@wvu.edu

ABSTRACT

The American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES) is an organization dedicated to quality education for persons with disabilities in rural settings.   Founded 25 years ago, ACRES membership currently includes over 400 individuals who represent rural teachers, rural administrators, and those in higher education who prepare them for their professional roles.   ACRES hosts an annual conference in March and publishes the Rural Special Education Quarterly (RSEQ).   Both conference and journal include a theoretical strand for researchers and a practical strand for practitioners.   ACRES also serves as the national voice for rural special education issues.   ACRES in its organizational structure, means of offering professional support for stakeholders, and service as a national voice on rural special education issues has become a model for rural educational organization development.   Ideas gleaned from discussion at the Hawaii International Conference on Education apply toward networking in developing countries.

Introduction and History

            The American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES) began as part of a planning grant funded by the United States Department of Education in 1979.   Helge and Marrs (ACRES, 2000) held a conference on rural special education in Murray Kentucky.   The result of the conference was continuation of the original grant with an expanded purpose:   to examine the impact of the Education of the Handicapped Act (P.L. 94-142) on rural schools.   The first annual ACRES Conference was held in 1981 also in Murray Kentucky; ACRES has since continued annual conferences every year in March, alternating locations from east to west in the United States.   The organization has grown from the original 45 higher education conference participants to a membership of over 400 that includes teachers, administrators, and parents in addition to those in higher education who prepare rural educators.

            ACRES first home was Murray State University.   When the organization’s founders changed institutions in 1984, they took ACRES with them to Western Washington University in Bellingham Washington.   Since that time, ACRES has been headquartered at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah (1992-1997) and at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas (1997-2002).   When KSU did not renew their contract as ACRES headquarters, members of the National Board of Directors accepted responsibility for organizational functions of a headquarters.   The ACRES webpage is located at Utah State University in Logan, Utah; ACRES finances are located at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky; membership is located at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida; conference program is located at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah; and conference planning is largely the responsibility of local ACRES members at the conference location with oversight from the National Board.

            In addition to the annual conference, ACRES publishes the Rural Special Education Quarterly (RSEQ).   Currently, the journal is housed at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia.   The RSEQ is the only nationally refereed journal dedicated to rural special education.   Both higher education and practitioners are represented in the journal articles in research and practice strands.   First published in 1979 in thematic issues, the journal has one issue each year devoted to a theme.   Examples include the meaning of rural, nurturing safe school environments, assessment of students with disabilities in rural schools, related service delivery in rural environments, and use of technology for rural special education.

            With close connections to the National Rural Education Association (NREA), the U.S. Department of Education, and the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), ACRES remains the national voice addressing rural special education issues in the United States.   The ACRES journal (RSEQ) and the annual conference are the only national professional venues dedicated specifically to rural special education issues.   To quote a previous editor of RSEQ, “For rural special education, ACRES is the only game in town!”

Current Organizational Structure

            Operating without benefit of a national headquarters, ACRES is truly a “grass roots” organization.   As described previously, major organizational functions have been shouldered by National Board members and their institutions in far-flung locations across the United States.   In addition to the major functions—website/information, finances, membership, conference program, and conference planning—ACRES work is carried out through a strong committee structure with active committee members.

In addition to the Technology, Budget and Financial Oversight, Membership, Conference Program, and Conference Planning Committees, ACRES committee structure includes the Exemplary Program Awards and Student Scholarship, Nominations and Elections, and Partnerships Committees.   Each year at the Conference, ACRES recognizes a rural education agency, a rural educator, and a rural pre-service educator with awards.   The pre-service award is a scholarship funded through the Conference Silent Auction.   Members of the National Board of Directors serve on three-year staggered terms that can be consecutively renewed once.   The organization thus has consecutive term limits but working Board members can be re-elected after a time off of the Board.   Nominations and Elections oversees the mail ballots for Board members and Officers who include the Past President, President, President-elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and Historian (Past, Current, and Apprentice).   The Partnerships Committee grew from efforts at marketing the organization.   Partnerships include informal affiliations with other related professional organizations, sponsors from both the private-for-profit and public-non-profit sectors, and exhibitors at the ACRES Conference.

In addition to standing committees, ACRES regularly appoints Ad Hoc Committees for specific functions.   Examples include the annual Auction Committee, the Policies and Procedures Committee, and Governmental Relations.   As an organization, ACRES would cease to exist without the dedicated work of its members in this focused and functioning committee system.

Activities that Support Rural Educators

            Early ACRES research attested to the problem of recruiting and retaining fully qualified special education personnel in rural schools, particularly those that are not only rural, but also remote, often with multi-grade classrooms.   Over the 25 years of the organization’s history, the problem of rural recruitment and retention has not been solved (AEL, 2003; Collins, 1999; Mulcahy, 1996; Pomeroy, 1997; Rural School & Community Trust, 2001).   In fact, with the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2002 (NCLB) and its narrow definition of “highly qualified teacher”, the problem has been exacerbated (Jimerson, 2004a; 2004b).   As an organization, ACRES has consistently addressed the issues of rural teacher recruitment, rural teacher retention, and fully qualified rural special educators.   This theme recurs in Conference proceedings and RSEQ articles.

            ACRES continually presents and promotes “current best practices” in education as they apply to rural settings.   Conference exhibitors bring state-of-the-art curricular materials for display or purchase.   Conference presentations include service delivery models, promising curricula, and technology hard ware and soft ware to be used as assistive devices, as delivery modes, or as means of communication.

            Recent research on the expectations and needs of early career rural educators is being conducted in New South Wales, Australia (Appleton, 1998; Boylan, retrieved 2004; McConaghy & Burnett, retrieved 2004; R(T)EP, retrieved 2004; Sharplin, 2002; Weitzenkamp, Howe, Steckelberg, & Radcliffe, 2003).   Since its inception, ACRES members have addressed preparation of pre-service teachers for rural areas.   Conference proceedings and RSEQ articles describe grow-your-own programs in Montana and Wyoming, live-in practica experiences in community schools located on American Indian Reservations in New Mexico and Arizona, telecommunication links from island to island in Hawaii.   “Outback hell” (Sharpton, 2002) in Australia?   We have a wealth of remote “outback” locations and experiences in the United States, one of the wealthiest of nations; even in the U.S., all roads are not paved.   ACRES facilitates sharing the stories and supporting the professionals to overcome their isolation and to continue their professional growth.

            ACRES continually monitors the national legislative scene.   As an organization, ACRES enlists the aid of a political analyst to inform members through Conference presentations.   ACRES has at times run a continuing column, “GrassRoots”, in its newsletter to explain federal law and policy to the membership.   ACRES has adopted and published several resolutions related to current educational issues and has devoted both RSEQ and Conference strands to the topics.   One example is the ACRES Resolution on Safe Schools (1998) (ACRES 2004) that grew into a special issue of the journal and then an educational leadership text (Fishbaugh, Berkeley & Schroth, 2003).

Ingredients for Organizational Development

            There are ingredients essential to the birth, growth, and continuing well-being of an organization like ACRES.   Although not large in comparison with other national and international professional organizations such as the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) or the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), ACRES nevertheless has a strong voice and has significant impact on rural special educators in the United States.   ACRES is a successful organization largely because of dedicated and hard-working members.   While the ingredients that are discussed in this section are essential components for organizational success, the sine qua non of ACRES vitality and viability is the quality—both professional and personal—of its membership.

            Focused Mission and Vision.   For any professional organization to be successful, it needs to develop and maintain focus in mission and vision.   In the beginning, ACRES was mothered and fathered by Helge and Marrs.   As executive director of the organization and as principal investigator of the original grant, Doris Helge ran ACRES.   When the organization was no longer grant funded, staying viable began with appointment of the first Board of Directors, a change in location from Washington to Utah, development of organizational by-laws, and struggle to articulate the organizational mission and vision.   Since 1992, there have been regular sessions—some professionally facilitated, some not—to review, refine, and/or revise the organizational vision.   Strategic planning has occurred at Conferences in Charleston, South Carolina, in Alexandria, Virginia, in San Diego, California, and in Reno, Nevada.   Results of these sessions include maintaining focus on rural special education, specifying a goal to be achieved in the year between Conferences, prioritizing organizational goals, and re-organization so that ACRES could survive without a designated headquarters and with organizational responsibilities scattered.   ACRES has become stronger with increasing individual ownership of organizational functions, roles, and responsibilities.   Annual review of where the organization has been, where it is, and where it needs to go cannot be too highly stressed.   Maintaining focus and continuous review of realistic organizational priorities are essential.

            Affordable Membership.   ACRES is dedicated to rural special education.   Teachers are not well paid, especially in comparison with other professions/livelihoods.   To attract and maintain members, that membership has to be affordable.   In 1981, ACRES dues were $20.00.   In 1988, the individual dues were raised to $45.00 where they remained for nearly twenty years.   It has only been since the turn of this century, that dues were raised to $75.00 per year in order to pay for journal publication and seed the annual conference.  ACRES officers and Board of Directors serve as volunteers; even paying their own conference travel or registration.

            Regular Contact with Membership.   Reminding busy educators that there is an organization working for them is crucial.   When members do not receive their journal regularly, when they do not receive invitations to the annual Conference, they forget to renew their membership.   The work of individuals, of committees, and of the organization as a whole continues; members and their dues are important.   ACRES maintains a website (http://www.acres-sped.org) but members need nudging to access the website.   United States Postal Service delivery of the journal, e-mail delivery of the ACRES newsletter, RuraLink, list-serve announcements regarding changes in federal special education law, are examples of regular contact with the membership.

            Division of Labor.   In the early days when ACRES had a grant-funded Executive Director and later when the organization had a designated headquarters, it was very easy to rely on one or several individuals to carry the responsibility for a myriad of day-to-day tasks.   At the face-to-face Board meetings during conferences or telephone conference calls throughout the year, it was customary to delegate carry-through for new ideas or continuing tasks to the Executive Director or to HQ.   When no one individual or institution could take full responsibility for ACRES, the Board strategically designated responsibilities to various individuals or committees.   This division of labor that occurred by necessity and default, rather than by design, has worked toward strengthening the organization as a whole.   With division of labor came acceptance of ownership.   No longer does a “they” exist who will carry out a novel idea, a routine task, a continuing organizational role.   With shared responsibility has come renewed individual investment in the continued well being of ACRES as a whole.   With shared responsibility has come the realization that to maintain a volunteer organization requires the hard work of many hands.

            Financial Support.   At first, ACRES was grant funded.   When in Utah, ACRES received financial support from state special education discretionary funding.   When in Kansas, ACRES was underwritten by the KSU school of education.   For several intervening years, ACRES faced financial exigency—realistic membership dues were not enough to fully support the activities of the organization.   Several years ago, an individual member endowed ACRES with part of an inheritance.   This endowment purchased gift membership for rural teachers throughout the United States, teachers designated by local/state special education directors.   In order to maintain a membership fee that does not exceed the ability of individuals to join, an organization like ACRES requires financial underwriting.   Although membership dues and conference registrations generally allow for the organization to break-even over the course of a year, there are times between conferences that a financial cushion is essential in order to maintain ACRES activities.   ACRES has submitted a grant proposal to the Department of Education requesting funding for three organizational initiatives—(a) developing and maintaining a data base of distance delivered special education preparation for rural educators who are place bound, (b) offering scholarships and on-line advising for rural educators who pursue special education preparation, and (c) developing and maintaining on-line mentor support for early career rural special educators.   If funded, this project would provide technical support, financial support, and teacher-to-teacher network support both for ACRES as an organization and for ACRES members as individuals.

            Governmental Contacts.   Associates and contacts in governmental agencies—local, provincial, or national—provide visibility to an organization such as ACRES.   Maintaining these contacts allows the organization to disseminate resolutions on legal issues.   The contacts provide the organization with information regarding potential grant competitions, up-coming appropriations, and other possible sources of financial support.   The contacts make it possible for ACRES to bring to its members the latest special education policies affecting service delivery in rural schools.

Ideas Specific to Developing Countries

            In developing countries, communication between schools and gatherings that include educational personnel can be especially challenging.   Affordable internet access and phone service are forms of rural communication taken for granted in the United States.   Both can be luxuries in some parts of the world.   There are means, however, educators who find themselves particularly isolated, can use for professional support.  

            The Rural and Small Schools Alliance, located in Helena Montana and funded by grants, hosts annual meetings of teachers from remote, rural, multi-grade classroom schools in Montana.   Each summer, the teachers gather to develop curricula based on state and national standards.   The results have been on-going networking among the teachers throughout the year, large curricular binders full of materials, resources, lessons etc for several grade levels, and ultimately the rural students’ performing well on annual state assessments.   Such a strategy might prove worthwhile for teachers in similar schools whatever their location in the world.

            ACRES has bi-monthly telephone conferences of the Board of Directors.   Members of the board call into a toll-free conference number.   If such a strategy were available through a central education agency, isolated teachers could call into a telephone conference to discuss national educational issues, immediate local issues, continuing professional development issues etc. at no cost to themselves.   The calls could be scheduled several times throughout the school year with specific topics for discussion planned in advance.   The on-going communication addressing education could be invaluable for the national educational scene.

            To address the perennial problem of lack of resources and materials, teachers in schools might form partnerships with schools in more affluent areas.   Personal contact could mean the difference between out-of-date, ragged books with scant supplies and recent educational materials with new materials.   School districts in developed countries change texts every two to five years.   If teachers formed personal partnerships across the world, recent texts considered “out-of-date” with only short-term use could be sent to schools without.   Children with more-than-enough supplies—crayons, markers, pencils, paper—could send supplies to their partners in another part of the world.   These partnerships need not be limited; there are districts in the United States that lack the tax base necessary for adequate school funding.   Partnering with an affluent district across the state holds potential for educators and students in both locals.   One component necessary in this process would be partnering teachers, students, and schools whose primary language of instruction was the same.

            Decreasing isolation and increasing information takes only small steps.   Although these small steps may take time and energy on the part of teachers, the resulting international communication and knowledge would make the effort worthwhile.

Summary

            Born through federal grant funding, maintained through the dedicated work of its members, and poised for even stronger future influence, the American Council on Rural Special Education is an organization dedicated to excellence in rural special education programs and delivery.   Such an organization can be invaluable for rural education in any country with significant rural populations.   Not only does ACRES serve rural educators and those who prepare them in the U.S., but ACRES can also serve as a prototype organization for rural educators throughout the world.

REFERENCES

AEL.   (2003).   Recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers in rural areas.   AEL Policy Briefs.   Charleston WV:   (Author).

Appleton, K.   1998).   Putting rurality on the agenda:   Beginning teachers in rural schools.   Retrieved September 30, 2004 from http://fehps.une.edu.au/Education/RTEP/.

American Council on Rural Special Education.   (2000).   Policies and procedures manual.   Manhattan KS:   (Author).

American Council on Rural Special Education.   (2004-2005).   Policies and procedures manual.   (No formal headquarters location):   (Author).

Boylan, C.R.   Putting rural into pre-service teacher education.   Retrieved September 30, 2004 from http://fehps.une.edu.au/Education/RTEP/.

Collins, T.   (1999).   Attracting and retaining teachers in rural areas.   ERIC Digest.   ERIC Identifier:   ED438152.   Charleston WV:   ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools.

Fishbaugh, M.S.E., Berkeley, T.R. & Schroth, G. (Eds.).   (2003).   Ensuring safe school environments:   Exploring issues—seeking solutions.   Mahwah, N.J.:   Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.

Jimerson, L.   (2004a).   The devil is in the details:   rural-sensitive best practices for accountability under No Child Left Behind.   Rural Trust Policy Brief Series on Rural Education.   Washington DC:   The Rural School and Community Trust.

Jimerson, W.   (2004b).   Special challenges of the “No Child Left Behind” act for rural schools and districts.   Washington DC:   Rural School and Community Trust.

McConaghy, C. & Burnett, G.   “Place matters”   Productive partnerships for quality teaching.   Retrieved September 30, 2004 from http://fehps.une.edu.au/Education/RTEP/.

Mulcahy, D.M.   (1996).   Why rural education?   Retrieved September 30, 2004 from http://www.mun.ca/educ/faculty/mwatch/fall96/mulcahy.htm.

Pomeroy, J.R.   (1997).   The rural learning network:   A teaching and learning collaborative.   The many Faces of Rural Education:   Proceedings of the 89 th NREA Annual Convention, Tucson, AZ, September 24-27, 1997.

Rural School and Community Trust.   (2001).   The puzzle of rural teacher shortages.   Rural Policy Matters, 3(9).

School of Education.   Rural (teacher) education project:   R(T)EP.   Armidale NSW:   University of New England.   Retrieved September 30, 2004 from http://fehps.une.edu.au/Education/RTEP/.

Sharplin, E.   (2002).   Rural retreat or outback hell:   Expectations of rural and remote teaching.   Issues in Educational Research, 12.

Weitzenkamp, D.J., Howe, M.E., Steckelberg, A.L., Radcliffe, R.   (2003).   The GOALS model:   Rural teacher preparation institutions meeting the ideals of a PDS through educational technology.   Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 2(4), 577-588.

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