Based on research conducted by Hardré, Sullivan and Crowson (2009) fix font "Rural youth (compared to non-rural) often experience greater conflict between educational goals and their family connections, and those with such conflicts are more likely to have lower educational aspirations and to delay postsecondary education" (p. 2). .
According to Missouri Program Assessment data - obtained from Missouri the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (http://dese.mo.gov/), minority students in the rural middle school studied are not achieving at the same level as non minority students. As reported in the National Center for Education Statistics (Rahman, 2009), white students are still scoring higher than black students. Whelan (2007) reported that states that provide educational support to a higher percentage of poor students and those with limited English language skills need to provide more services to allow them to reach the same level as other age appropriate students around the state. According to Whelan (2007), reports show "rural schools, located in the states with the most impoverished, minority, and English Language Learner (ELL) students happen to receive the fewest resources" (p. 1). Rural communities are less likely to have public transportation which adversely affects travel to after school programs (Collins, Bronte-Tinkew, & Logan, 2008). Because of lack of resources and financial means, it would be expected that parents of low socioeconomic status living in rural communities would be less likely to attend school activities, including parent teacher conferences. This is validated by transportation needs in rural communities. .
Friedman (2004) reported 40 percent families living in rural communities have no access to public transportation. These families do not have vehicles nor do they have the funds to purchase vehicles and often do not possess a driver's license.