Maiden, JeffreyLove, T. N.2014-12-162014-12-162014-12-12http://hdl.handle.net/11244/13888This study addressed a gap in the literature about the importance of the school context in predicting and mediating postsecondary education participation for rural students. Using grounded theory with a modified constant comparative analysis, the study offered insight into the culture of a Midwestern, positively deviant remote rural school which graduated students with completed plans and requirements for postsecondary education. Semi-structured interviews with 10 of the 23 faculty members and other school data sources facilitated identification of the Discourse of the educators regarding students’ preparation, sensemaking, and completion of steps for postsecondary education access. The resulting Individual Anxiety-Corporate Confidence (IA-CC) model indicated the educators’ use of balanced polar messages of individual responsibility and corporate efficacy represented the school’s Discourse. The IA-CC model contributed to the literature: (a) a variation of the autonomy-connectedness theory for the rural school culture; (b) a cultural view of the socially-constructed reality of postsecondary education access; (c) an understanding of the ecology of messaging important in the meaning making of the rural students; and (d) a rare real-world ecologically valid study of a case of organizational-level implicit person theory. The IA-CC model and Discourse of this remote, rural school may provide insight for other rural educators and leaders regarding school context aspects including shared expectations for postsecondary education, shared leadership, college brokering, and including steps of postsecondary education preparation and access within the school day.Education, Administration.Education, Secondary.Speech Communication.