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Publicly funded rural science teachers reported collaboration, advice-seeking, and communication mode and frequency. UCINET quantified tie formation significance, revealing sparse networks, with a quarter of teachers having no connections. Geographic proximity emerged as a strong predictor, while individual characteristics were not significant. Findings suggest districts can foster supportive ties with time, funding, and technology training.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/uncovering-the-connections-among-rural-science-teachers-a-social-network-analysis/590280/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/uncovering-the-connections-among-rural-science-teachers-a-social-network-analysis/590280.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Adam","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-06","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What networks did the study examine among rural science teachers?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The study examined professional collaboration and advice networks, including whom teachers collaborate with and seek advice from, as well as communication mode and frequency.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How were ties in the teacher network analyzed?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Responses were analyzed using UCINET to calculate statistical significance of tie formation within a bounded network.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What factors predicted whether rural teachers formed connections?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Geographic proximity strongly predicted tie formation, while individual teacher characteristics were not significant predictors in the study’s population.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590280,1792165071,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":41,"preview_page_count":4},1374404737137,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","AERA Open  \nJanuary-December 2024, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 1–12 DOI: 10. 1177/23328584241253821  \nArticle reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2024. [https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](https://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero)  \nUncovering the Connections Among Rural Science Teachers:  \nA Social Network Analysis  \nTracy Poulsen  \nHeather Leary  \nBrigham Young University  \nAlan Daly  \nUniversity of California, San Diego  \nRebecca Sansom  \nBrigham Young University  \nUsing social network analysis, we sought to characterize the professional collaboration and advice networks among rural science teachers. Furthermore, we explored how the characteristics of individual teachers and distance between teachers affected the likelihood of forming connections. Science teachers in publicly funded rural schools were asked whom they collaborate with and seek advice from and the mode and frequency of their communications. Results were analyzed using UCINET to calculate statistical significance of tie formation. Ties among rural teachers were sparse, with a quarter of teachers having no connections within the bounded network. In contrast to other social network studies, characteristics of individual teachers were not a significant predictor of tie formation in our population, but geographic proximity was a strong predictor. Our findings suggest that districts can support teachers informing supportive ties by providing time, funding, and/ or technology tools and training.  \nKeywords: social network analysis, rural schools, science teachers, professional isolation  \nDespite the abundant research that describes the physical, professional, and social isolation of rural teachers (Anttila & Väänänen, 2013; Berry & Gravelle, 2013; Biddle & Azano, 2016; Burton et al., 2013), there is very little research that addresses the professional social networks of rural teachers (Woodland & Mazur, 2019) . Interactions among teachers can have profound impacts on student success, teacher selfefficacy, and the implementation of effective pedagogical strategies (Darling-Hammond & Richardson, 2009; Jackson & Bruegmann, 2009; Lysberg, 2023) . Despite the benefits of frequent teacher-teacher interactions, rural teachers frequently remain disconnected and isolated from other practitioners (Woodland & Mazur, 2019) . Because rural teachers tend to place more value on relationships with their students and coworkers (Trentham & Schaer, 1985), understanding the supportive interactions between rural teachers may provide insight into their needs and effective methods to support rural teachers.  \nOpportunities for increased collaboration among teachers may alleviate some of the struggles of working in rural  \nschools. In addition to the aforementioned isolation, rural teachers often have larger loads, teaching more out-of-subject courses and taking on additional roles within the school such as coaching athletics, instructional coaching, or administrative positions (Berry & Gravelle, 2013; Biddle & Azano, 2016) . These factors may contribute to the difficulty rural schools and districts have finding qualified teachers, especially in math, science, and special education (Burton et al., 2013) .  \nRural teachers themselves are aware of these issues, and the majority “agree that greater collaboration among teachers and school leaders would have a major impact on student achievement”(MetLife & Harris Intereactive, 2013, p. 1); however, opportunities for meaningful collaboration are hindered due to vast geographic distances between teachers in rural areas and lack of access to technology that can bridge that gap (Durr et al., 2020; Maher & Prescott, 2017) . Remedies to these issues have been attempted, such as the Northwest Rural Innovation and Student Engagement Network (Jones, 2023) and the Rural Schools Collaborative  \nCreative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distribut","cbCaithIC35QC9rQ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaithIC35QC9rQ","pdf",513909,12,"English","# Background and research gap\n## Isolation of rural teachers\n## Need to understand social networks\n# Study purpose and research questions\n# Method and data analysis\n## UCINET and tie formation\n# Key findings\n## Sparse ties and predictors\n# Implications for districts","[{\"question\":\"What networks did the study examine among rural science teachers?\",\"answer\":\"The study examined professional collaboration and advice networks, including whom teachers collaborate with and seek advice from, as well as communication mode and frequency.\"},{\"question\":\"How were ties in the teacher network analyzed?\",\"answer\":\"Responses were analyzed using UCINET to calculate statistical significance of tie formation within a bounded network.\"},{\"question\":\"What factors predicted whether rural teachers formed connections?\",\"answer\":\"Geographic proximity strongly predicted tie formation, while individual teacher characteristics were not significant predictors in the study’s population.\"}]","Uncovering the Connections Among Rural Science Teachers: A Social Network Analysis | PDF",1792069235]