Why Rural Schools Matter with Dr. Mara Tieken – PMP518

A Quick Note to Listeners:

Before each week’s interview, Will Parker and Jen Schwanke take some time to answer a listener question. This week’s question is:

If we know best practices for strong student outcomes, why are so many schools not implementing them?

Listen in to hear their response!

Meet Mara Tieken:

Mara Casey Tieken is a professor of education at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. Her research focuses on educational equity for rural students and communities, including rural college access, rural school closure, and rural racial justice. She is the author of Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges—and What it Costs Them (University of Chicago Press, 2025), which was a 2025 American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice Book Award winner, and Why Rural Schools Matter (University of North Carolina Press, 2014). She is currently working on two projects: one focused on school closures in rural Black communities, and another studying rural-serving college access organizations. An award-winning teacher, Mara also designed and maintains a web-based toolkit for rural communities fighting school closure. She began her career in education as a third-grade teacher in rural Tennessee.

“We give rural students an awful choice: college or community. We need to help them think about it as navigating different worlds rather than choosing one or the other.”

Mara Tieken

In this week’s episode, Dr. Jen Schwanke leads the conversation with author and researcher Dr. Mara Tieken to explore the unique challenges and strengths of rural education. Drawing from her experience teaching in rural Tennessee, Mara discusses the invisible barriers that rural students face when navigating higher education and the cultural cost of leaving home.

The “College vs. Community” Paradox:

Rural students often feel they must choose between pursuing a degree and maintaining their community identity. Educators must help students see college not as a replacement for their roots, but as a path to navigate multiple worlds.

Recognizing Rural Assets: