Rural Partnerships in New England: Learning from Kids

States, established the Office of School/College Relations (OSCR) in 1990 to encourage collaborative activities that strengthen education. While the six-state region of New England boasts more than two hundred collaboratives, chiefly between schools and colleges, fully half were formed some 20 years ago. Rural partnerships define an even smaller number; of which only 110 are listed among more than 2,400 partnerships surveyed by the University ofSyracuse since 1986. Few, if any, are involved in systemic reform. This paper focuses on NEASC's recent undertaking of the "Rural Partnerships for Students ' Success Project, " to enhance conditions which will improve equity and access to postsecond-ary education. The effort to strengthen institutions ' ability to meet accrediting standards reflects lessons learned from the study ofstudent aspirations and implications for rural education reform. The Partnership Movement NEASC serves the public and the educational com-munity by establishing and maintaining high standards of education excellence through self-evaluation and peer re-view. Schools and colleges which demonstrate that they meet those standards are accredited and thus become mem-bers of the association. While initially devoting exclusive attention to New England schools and colleges, in recent years it has served educational institutions abroad, particu-larly at the K-12 level, thus advancing the ideal of self-regulation through peer review in regions outside the United States. NEASC now serves almost 1,700 schools and col