Rural Education

For the first time in decades, the National Rural Education Association has a new executive director and a new home. The group's leaders hope the fresh start will help them find a stronger voice and spark a surge in membership.

Bob Mooneyham, now retired after 25 years leading the Oklahoma School Boards Association, began work as the NREA's director on March 15. His office at the University of Oklahoma college of education in Norman is the organization's new home, after many years at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo.

Mr. Mooneyham, an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma, replaces Joseph Newlin, who died last May. Mr. Newlin had led the NREA for nearly 20 years. Al Eads Jr., a retired superintendent from South Carolina who is slated to become NREA president in October, had...