AIRSS News

First Regional Rural Future Teacher Club Event

The future of our local rural classrooms just got a little brighter! On January 29th, students from across the region gathered for the inaugural meeting of the Regional Rural Future Teacher Club, marking a significant milestone in how our community cultivates the next generation of educators. This initiative is made possible by the CTE Education […]

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Join Us for the First-Ever Rural Education Conference in Illinois!

While there are a lot of education conferences in Illinois, our event is the first one catered to the rural and small school perspective. If you are a rural educator, administrator, or CTE director, this event is designed for you! For our first conference, our topic of focus is student career success. We will explore

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Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025 Becomes Law

President Trump signed H.R. 1383, the Secure Rural Schools Reauthorization Act of 2025, into law on December 22, 2025, after bipartisan support moved it through the House and Senate. The bill was introduced earlier this year with the goal of extending the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000. Originally introduced in Congress

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Growing Rural Computer Science Lessons through Ag Education

Rural and small school districts have an incredible opportunity to leverage their agriculture classes to offer invaluable career skill development for all students. The Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools Rural IL CTE Project team recently explored this opportunity through a workshop for Ag educators with the Illinois Learning Technology Center (LTC) at Regional

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A Cornucopia of CTE Creativity

This Thanksgiving season, we’re celebrating the incredible variety of CTE programs that help students build real-world skills and bright futures. We asked you to share your unique CTE program and show us what makes it special, whether it’s a classroom project, community partnership, or student success story. Let’s give thanks for hands-on learning, career exploration,

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A White Paper Series on the Rural Schools Infrastructure Crisis

Co-authored by David Ardrey, Executive Director, Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools and Roger Eddy, Former Executive Director, Illinois Association of School Boards This series explores the critical condition of rural school infrastructure, and new infrastructure solutions made possible by a partnership between AIRSS and OPTERRA. This partnership is designed to bring unprecedented support

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Congratulations to the 133 Rural Schools Designated as “Exemplary” by the 2025 Illinois Report Card

The Illinois Report Card is an annual report released by the Illinois State Board of Education, detailing how schools, districts, and the state as a whole are performing. Schools in the state are ranked in the following categories each year: We are excited to share that 133 rural schools received the designation of “Exemplary School”

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