She is the co-Principal Investigator of Promoting PLACE (Place, Literacy, Achievement, Community, and Engagement) in Rural Schools, a five-year, $1.9 million U.S. Department of Education grant designed to support gifted education programs in high-poverty rural communities. Amy serves on the executive committee of the Rural Education SIG (AERA), co-directs the Rural School-Community Partnership Research Consortium, and serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Research in Rural Education and the Rural Educator.

Rural education project highlights are:

Azano, Downey & Brenner offer a review of challenges related to preparing pre-service teachers for rural schools with an asset-focused approach to resist deficit ideologies: Preparing pre-service teachers for rural schools

Eppley, Azano, Brenner, & Shannon provide a policy brief in The Rural Educator, asking “What counts as evidence in rural schools?” and advocating for practice-based evidence as a socially just alternative in rural education research.

Rural Project:

Promoting Place in Rural Schools is a 5-year, federally funded grant focused on developing a unique approach to supporting gifted education programs in high-poverty rural communities. Its goals are to 1. increase the number of students identified for gifted education in high poverty, rural schools; 2. develop place-based language arts units for rural gifted learners; 3. implement interventions to increase a growth mindset and reduce rural stereotype threat; 4. increase achievement in language arts; and 5. increase student engagement and self-efficacy.

Rural Communities Test Ways to Hook Gifted Students
Place-based Lessons Help Rural Schools Engage Gifted Students