downey

Dr. Downey is a Professor of Educational Psychology and serves as the Director of the Center for Research on Rural Education. She has been an active leader and researcher in rural education for over 25 years. Her research and scholarship are focused on preparing teachers and counselors for rural schools and communities and improving outcomes for rural students. Dr. Downey is committed to engaging in research, scholarship and service which are intentionally attuned to the complex and unique realities and relationships of rural schools and communities—past, present, and future.

Dr. Downey serves on the Board of Directors for the Montana Small Schools Alliance working on behalf of 150 of Montana’s smallest rural and remote schools. She received the 2022 Career Achievement Award from the AERA’s Rural Education SIG. Dr. Downey has been awarded over $20 million in research funding, published over 50 articles, reports, and professional manuals, and given over 150 research presentations at regional, national, and international conferences.

 

Recent Publications:

Downey, J. & Luebeck, J. (2025). Professional learning for rural and remote teachers. In J. Johnson & H. Harmon (Eds). Handbook on rural and remote education. Edward Elgar Publishing.

White, S., Downey, J., Fuqua, M. (Eds.) (2024). Sharing leadership stories in rural education: Leading rurally across Australia and the United States. Springer Singapore.  

Luebeck, J. & Downey, J. (2024). Cultivating rural mathematics teachers through place-attentive preparation. In B. Benken (Ed.) The AMTE Handbook of Mathematics Teacher Education: Reflection on Past, Present and Future – Paving the Way for the Future of Mathematics Teacher Education, Vol. 5. Information Age Publishing.

Downey, J. & Luebeck, J. (2023). The power of three: Leveraging trilateral partnerships to support and sustain rural educators. In S. Hartman & B. Klein (Eds). The middle of somewhere: Rural education partnerships that promote innovation and change. Harvard University Press.

Downey, J. (2021). The rural community walk: A structured learning experience for understanding place. In P. Roberts & M. Fuqua (Eds.) Ruraling education research: Connections between rurality and the disciplines of educational research. Springer Singapore.

Azano, A., Brenner, D., Downey, J., Eppley, K., & Schulte, A. (2021). Teaching in rural places: Thriving in classrooms, schools, and communities. Routledge.

White, S. & Downey, J. (Eds.) (2021). Rural education across the world: Models of innovative practice and impact. Springer Singapore.  

Downey, J., Elliot, A., Koltz, R., & Murray, K. (2021). Rural school-based mental health: Models of prevention, intervention, and preparation. In A. P. Azano, K. Eppley, & C. Biddle (Eds.) Bloomsbury handbook of rural education in the USA. Bloomsbury Academic.