The Journal of Research in Rural Education is a peer-reviewed, open access e-journal publishing original pieces of scholarly research of demonstrable relevance to educational issues within rural settings. JRRE was established in 1982 by the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development. In 2008, JRRE moved to the Center on Rural Education and Communities, located within Penn State University's College of Education, and is edited by Kai A. Schafft with associate editor Jacqueline Edmondson.

We welcome single-study investigations, historical and philosophical analyses, research syntheses, theoretical pieces, and policy analyses from multiple disciplinary and methodological perspectives. Manuscripts may address a variety of issues including (but not limited to): the interrelationships between rural schools and communities; the sociological, historical, and economic context of rural education; rural education and community development; learning and instruction; preservice and inservice teacher education; educational leadership, and; educational policy. Book reviews and (occasionally) brief commentary on recently published JRRE articles are also welcomed.