This paper addresses the problem of improving the quality of education for children attending schools located in rural areas, including under-filled rural schools and branches of rural schools in Russia. The relevance of this study is determined by the lack of scientifically substantiated, practically approved models of interaction of these branches with the basic school, the absence of a sufficient regulatory framework for their operation, and the scientific and methodological support of the educational process therein. It was found that there is a strong correlation dependence between the share of rural schools and the share of rural population in the region, and there is a weak correlation dependence between the number of rural school branches and the share of the rural population, the population density, and the number of rural schools. On the basis of the results obtained, provisions on the subjectivity of branch establishment process in rural schools are formulated.