A Call for Dreamkeepers in Rural United States

Abstract

Highly effective teachers not only are the percolators of student dreams but also actively convey their hopes and dreams, catalyzing student dreams of further education. Within rural education contexts, there are not enough Dreamkeepers—teachers, counselors, and other school personnel who inspire student success. This article explores the college aspiration gap among ninth graders by population density. The authors posit that the college enrollment gap between urban/suburban and town/rural students is correlated with this aspiration gap, which in turn is fueled by a lack of Dreamkeepers. They explored this using the High School Longitudinal Survey of 2009, comparing student postsecondary aspirations by locale and connecting those to student perceptions of their teachers’ expectations for their success. Differences emerged between urban and rural students concerning the intensity with which ninth graders perceived teachers’ expectations for their future successes. This article begins with a contextual discussion of social perceptions of urbanicity compared to rurality and then turns to a discussion of rural students’ college aspirations and the role of families and schools therein. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.