tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6089925055165569382024-02-19T14:54:40.451-07:00Smaller Schools"Creating smaller schools and school districts puts in place the most accountable system there is.
It is self-correcting... This system size is the right balance." - David N. CoxCoxWebDevhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05130380647239763450noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-75374630030038704052022-10-06T20:37:00.000-06:002022-10-06T20:37:29.906-06:00Legislature looking at adjustments to district division process<p>KSL published an article: <a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/50480567/bill-could-address-major-concern-of-orem-splitting-from-alpine-school-district" target="_blank">Bill could address major concern of Orem splitting from Alpine School District</a> that addresses one of the main concerns about splitting Orem into it's own district - Several schools in Vineyard, Lindon, and Orem have borders that include areas in each of the cities. What happens to those students?</p><p>Utah law allows any student to attend any public school they wish - regardless of whether they live in the borders of those schools or not, so the answer to this question is - yes, students can continue attending the school of their choice.</p><p>However, there still may be concerns about families who have kids attending, for example, Oak Canyon Junior High (in Lindon) and Timpanogos High School (in Orem), or about the transition period. That's where this bill comes into play.</p><p>From the article:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><p>[Rep. Keith] Grover's bill would make it so that if the district lines are drawn in a way that puts a student — like one from Lindon or Vineyard — in a district different than where they live, they will be able to continue attending the school that they had been attending prior to any split that may happen.</p><p>"This bill will seek to clarify that, of course, those students will be able to continue to attend the schools they've been attending," Grover said. "We do not want to have any type of disruption to their education. That should be very, very seamless."</p></blockquote><p> </p>CoxWebDevhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05130380647239763450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-15015318010215449652022-10-06T20:27:00.000-06:002022-10-06T20:27:52.178-06:00Utah Taxpayers Association supports Orem School DistrictThe Utah Taxpayers Association <a href="https://utahtaxpayers.org/utah-taxpayers-association-statement-on-proposition-2-in-orem-vote-yes/" target="_blank">released this statement</a> about the proposed Orem School District:<div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div>"With the proper taxable property values in the proposed district and conservative estimates of state funding and federal funding, it is reasonable to conclude that an Orem school district would very likely have sufficient revenue to support itself without the need for a property tax increase. In fact, an independent feasibility study was conducted that came to this conclusion. By our own calculations, if higher taxes were needed, any near term increase would be very modest. If the cities of Lindon and Vineyard were added to the new district eventually as well, the tax base would be even stronger. Finally, in a smaller district that was Orem-centric, Orem taxpayers could better hold the new school board accountable for any proposed bonds or changes in tax rates."</div><div><br /></div><div>"Orem taxpayers are justified in seeking more local control over their contribution to education, and the Utah Taxpayers Association urges Orem taxpayers to vote in favor of Proposition 2."</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>Several news organizations published articles on the statement:</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/50488779/utah-taxpayers-association-supports-orem-splitting-from-alpine-district" target="_blank">KSL</a>: <br /></div><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">"To come to this conclusion, the taxpayers association gathered information from a wide range of sources, including the Utah County assessor, Utah State Tax Commission, Utah State Board of Education and the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst."</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/2022/oct/04/utah-taxpayers-association-says-yes-to-proposition-2-in-orem-stays-neutral-on-alpine-school-district-bond/" target="_blank">The Daily Herald</a>:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">"Both the DEC feasibility study and the Utah Taxpayers Association came to the same conclusion, that a school district was feasible for the city. </div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">"While it appears some of the information comes directly from the DEC feasibility study, Cannon said, “We did the research ourselves.”</div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">"Cannon indicated that he met with groups both for and against Proposition 2."</div></blockquote><p><br /></p>CoxWebDevhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05130380647239763450noreply@blogger.com0Orem, UT, USA40.2968979 -111.694647510.544682190301312 -146.8508975 70.049113609698679 -76.5383975tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-40050037719843050392022-08-31T10:17:00.000-06:002022-08-31T10:17:10.429-06:00Vote YES to create an Orem City School District!<p><a href="https://www.oremcityschooldistrict.com/" target="_blank">https://www.oremcityschooldistrict.com/</a> </p>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-82759186371399951642022-08-20T14:46:00.000-06:002022-08-20T14:46:08.476-06:00Do Middle Schools Make Sense?<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Perhaps most importantly, Rogers says the one consistency she has found among K–8 schools is that "kids tend to say they feel safer, so there is less of a </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #404040; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: inherit;">Lord of the Flies</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> environment" at a critical stage when they are "navigating through social currents. For many kids, it's distracting."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/12/09/do-middle-schools-make-sense" target="_blank">Do Middle Schools Make Sense?</a><br /></span></p>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-80963321690877665682022-08-20T14:40:00.000-06:002022-08-20T14:40:58.422-06:00Editorial Suggests Creating a Lehi School District<p> "<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT Serif", sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">It will be interesting to see how Orem voters react to the district split idea in November. If Orem approves the split, I feel there will be additional pressure from Lehi patrons to follow Orem’s lead and, perhaps, other communities will follow suit."<br /><br /></span><a href="https://lehifreepress.com/2022/08/18/opinion-is-a-lehi-city-school-district-in-our-future/?fbclid=IwAR2fdqrFzMyGYFkV1yHlVUuZ_nKKv8pRPr4BuRaJ6SSMFlhdttPoe6g04tc" target="_blank">OPINION: Is a Lehi City School District in our future?</a><br /></p>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-57551300886723060812022-07-29T22:58:00.000-06:002022-07-29T22:58:38.181-06:00Mid-sized urban districts (10,000 to 20,000 students) have lower administrative costs per student than larger urban districts<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">For those wanting the latest in administrative costs per pupil:</span></p><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none !important; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none !important;">“However, some of the lowest administrative costs per student are among midsize and large districts (i.e., those with student counts of 10,000 to 20,000 students).” p.24</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none !important;">Mid-sized urban districts (10,000 to 20,000 students) have lower administrative costs per student than larger urban districts. p. 33</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none !important;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none !important;">A Utah State Performance Audit of Public Education Administrative Costs (June2022)</div><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none !important;"><br /></div></div><div class="cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql o9v6fnle ii04i59q" style="animation-name: none !important; background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, "system-ui", ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; transition-property: none !important; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="animation-name: none !important; font-family: inherit; transition-property: none !important;">This would be the range that an Orem SD would fall into!</div></div>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-21843489971383965922022-07-27T15:10:00.002-06:002022-07-27T15:10:39.651-06:00Opinion: Is ASD accountable to patrons? Former state school board member addresses overcrowding, district split<p> </p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT Serif", sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">"Second, the disconnect between Board members is a problem and growing rapidly. Right now, a member of our Board represents substantially more people than a member of our state legislature in the House. This has effectively inverted the notion of local government, making our State government more responsive than our local government. Furthermore, we have ten very large high schools in the District, but only seven board members, making it impossible for board members to know their local schools effectively."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "PT Serif", sans-serif; font-size: 17.6px;">"The obvious solution to most of the District’s problems is to split the District three ways so that each new District could better respond to Orem’s slow growth, the stable growth between Lindon and American Fork, and the rapid growth between Lehi and Eagle Mountain. Not one single candidate will even mention the topic, much less discuss it."</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 17.6px;"><span style="font-family: PT Serif, sans-serif;"><a href="https://lehifreepress.com/2020/10/15/opinion-is-asd-accountable-to-patrons-former-state-school-board-member-addresses-overcrowding-district-split/?fbclid=IwAR0M5guJUa5xBYYEFXL0LkxsvuywISRhPSt47AJjSfZY5mWFOhozHquWU38" target="_blank">Opinion: Is ASD accountable to patrons? Former state school board member addresses overcrowding, district split</a></span></span></p>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-536894936055763852022-07-14T15:51:00.006-06:002022-07-14T15:53:55.667-06:00Timeline: Orem explores split from Alpine School District, forming new district<p> This <a href="https://www.ksl.com/article/50439428/timeline-orem-explores-split-from-alpine-school-district-forming-new-district" target="_blank">KSL article</a> is about the Orem City proposal to create their own school district.</p>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-30971089354036627372022-07-14T15:47:00.001-06:002022-07-14T15:47:24.251-06:00Save Orem Schools<p> This website is promoting the consideration of creating an <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/saveoremschool/?multi_permalinks=443016967675105&comment_id=444247657552036&notif_id=1657660348503617&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif" target="_blank">Orem School District</a>. They will be looking at all the facts, now that a feasibility study has been done.</p>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-23434833024641315062022-05-13T22:52:00.000-06:002022-05-13T22:52:08.263-06:00School District size nationwide 2013-2014<p><a href="https://www.governing.com/archive/school-district-totals-average-enrollment-statistics-for-states-metro-areas.html"> Total School Districts, Student Enrollment by State and Metro Area</a></p><p>https://www.governing.com/archive/school-district-totals-average-enrollment-statistics-for-states-metro-areas.html</p>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-34460551400789150842018-04-03T02:32:00.000-06:002018-04-03T02:32:24.191-06:00SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, HIGH SCHOOL SIZE<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.12px;">SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, HIGH SCHOOL SIZE</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; letter-spacing: -0.12px;">, and NEUROBIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;">David A. Kaiser PhD</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;">Rochester Institute of Technology , Rochester, New York</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;">Published online: 08 Sep 2008.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "SF Optimized", system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: SF Optimized, system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, .SFNSText-Regular, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.isnr-jnt.org/article/viewFile/16765/10726">http://www.isnr-jnt.org/article/viewFile/16765/10726</a></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: -0.12px;"><span style="color: #1d2129; font-family: SF Optimized, system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, .SFNSText-Regular, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
To cite this article: David A. Kaiser PhD (2005) School Shootings, High School Size, and Neurobiological
Considerations, Journal of Neurotherapy: Investigations in Neuromodulation, Neurofeedback and Applied
Neuroscience, 9:3, 101-115<br />
To link to this article: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J184v09n03_07">http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J184v09n03_07</a><br />
<br />
SUMMARY. In the last decade 17 multiple-injury student school shootings
have occurred in the United States, 13 at high schools and 4 at
middle schools. Research suggests that high schools function best academically
as well as socially at enrollments around 600 (150 students
per grade), the natural group size of humans. Eleven of 13 high school
shootings occurred in schools with enrollments over 600 students, and
many with over 1,000 students. Violent and antisocial behavior is associated
with deficits in social information processing, which is necessarily
exacerbated by complex social environments. School shootings may
be in part a response to the unprecedented social complexity of large
schools. Median public high school enrollment now stands at 1,200 in
suburbs and 1,600 in cities despite the fact that smaller schools are superior
to large schools on nearly all academic and social measures of success
including graduation rate, student satisfaction, conduct infractions,
athletic participation, absenteeism, and dropout rate. Educational institutions
should adapt to the neurobiological limitations of children instead of forcing children to adapt to the unnatural requirements of such institutions.<br />
<br />
Excerpt:<br />
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit, serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">Reducing school size to
within children’s neurobiological capabilities is a universal prevention, a
proactive method of reducing violence and improving intellectual, emotional,
and social development.</span><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><br />
<br />
</span><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit, serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">When groups are small enough for members to
know one another, they are more apt and able to police themselves.<br />
<br />
When natural group sizes are exceeded, formal institutions of behavioral
control are necessary, which can be both expensive and ineffective.<br />
<br />
Some communities have experimented with a schools-within-a-school approach,
dividing large student bodies into smaller operational units with dedicated
academic and administrative personnel. BUT common areas (gym, cafeteria,
entrance) often remain shared by the entire student body, undermining group
cohesion, and<br />
<br />
students in physically large schools rarely possess the freedoms and
responsibilities of students in smaller schools, regardless of administrative
strategy.<br />
<br />
We need to build smaller schools, more schools, and roll back the consolidation
of the past half century.<br />
(spacing and capitalization added)</span><!--EndFragment--><div>
<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit, serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit, serif; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">My comment: </span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "inherit","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; letter-spacing: -.1pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The sad thing is that, despite being published 10 years ago,
and much additional supporting research prior to that, nobody in authority has
done anything with it except call for more gun control - which would have had
no effect on any of the school shootings that have happened so far!<br />
<br />
Why? Why have they done nothing to improve the situation with anything that has
been shown to absolutely reduce violence? Where is the outcry, protests, etc.,
for this??</span><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-53206644397577087652018-04-03T01:36:00.001-06:002018-04-03T01:39:42.840-06:00GUEST OPINION: LARGER SCHOOLS HAVE A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON STUDENTS<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 26px; margin-bottom: 26px;">
In the early 1960’s research was put forward that called for bigger high schools. These schools would provide more opportunities for less cost. It is important to note that this research called for <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">increasing</em></strong> school size to 400-500 students, something we would today call very small! What was a true conclusion then, for the size they were advocating, has today been taken to an extreme that has given us schools of 2,000 to as many as 5,000 students!</div>
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Many today still claim that the bigger we build our schools, the more opportunities we will have for students and for less cost. What has the research shown? Karen Irmsher, in her compilation of the research titled “School Size” says, “Michael Klonsky (1995), Mary Anne Raywid (1995), and others report that large school size hurts attendance and dampens enthusiasm for involvement in school activities. Large schools have lower grade averages and standardized-test scores coupled with higher dropout rates and more problems with violence, security, and drug abuse.” Considering the recent problems with suicides among students, it may be that large school sizes also contribute to the problem.</div>
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As for costs, Irmsher states, “Lee and Smith (1996) found that savings projected by proponents of school consolidation have not materialized. Instead of long-assumed economies of scale, they discovered diseconomies, or penalties of scale. Large schools need more layers of support and administrative staff to handle the increased bureaucratic demands.” Another study entitled “Dollars and Sense II” stated, “a 2005 study of 25 different small schools across the nation found that, on average, small schools spent 17 percent less per student than comparable schools in their districts while achieving equivalent or better results.” I might add that so-called “small” schools should more appropriately be called moderately-sized schools, for we are not actually advocating for truly small schools, but rather for moderately-sized schools, the size that allow students to be <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">somebody</em> </strong>rather than a number.</div>
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A local person recently said to me, “Large schools only give a select handful of students a bigger school name for their resume. They most definitely don’t provide more opportunities for most of the students.” There are only so many football players on a team. There are only so many parts in a play. There are the same numbers of students that can participate in student government in a large or a small school. That means, in our shopping mall-sized schools, the chances of participating on a team, in a competition or extra-curricular program, or just being <strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">somebody</em></strong> in the school culture, are greatly diminished.</div>
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As for increased classes offered, with the advancements in technology of the past 20 years, students can take whatever classes they want regardless of the physical site they attend.</div>
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But what do large schools cost communities that are not normally considered? There are the intangible costs of lowered achievement, graduation rates, the increased violence, security, and drug abuse, etc., mentioned above. There are also transportation and traffic costs. Large regional schools mean more busing and individual cars driving greater distances, increasing congestion on our roads, with all the associated costs. With increased busing, bus schedules come to rule school schedules to the students’ detriment.</div>
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Having your home next to a school used to increase its value. Now patrons even protest having a school built near them. They don’t like all the traffic, for one thing. With fewer, larger schools communities must raise taxes for more parks and playing fields that used to be provided with schools. More moderately-sized schools would provide this while spreading out and decreasing traffic.</div>
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Be aware that refusing to pass bonds for new schools will not keep taxes low. It will just move the control from the local district to the state, while increasing problems in the schools as it pushes them ever bigger, which, as Irmsher’s research points out require ever more programs to try to mitigate the problems of lowered performance, “coupled with higher dropout rates and more problems with violence, security, and drug abuse.” It requires more taxes from the state to cover increased busing along with increased costs to parents transporting their children.</div>
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Bigger schools only appear cost effective on district yearly budget sheets that miss most of the real costs. They decrease opportunities for the vast majority of students and only give a few a big-name school on their resume. Let’s not short-change our children and our pocketbooks by cramming them into ever-bigger schools. More information is available at www.smallerschools.org.</div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">David Cox is a career teacher, former Utah state legislator, and is currently teaching in China. He has spent years researching school size and its implications in student achievement. He is a Lehi native.</em></div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Lehi Free Press, March 1, 2018</em></div>
ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-44646793953188366302018-02-21T21:46:00.000-07:002018-02-21T21:46:25.110-07:00RECENT ARTICLE ON THE SCHOOL SIZE ISSUEThe following article discusses the school size issue and attempts to do it in a "balanced, not-taking-a-side" way. Unfortunately this allows unsupported statements to be put on an equal footing with supported statements in an attempt to "balance" the discussion. In other cases it allows a clearer view of the approach that opposing proponents have as to better solutions for students. For instance:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">"Strengths of small schools:</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;"> Students are less likely to “fall through the cracks” or feel cut off from the school culture. They are more likely to form strong relationships with peers and school staff.</span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">"Strengths of large schools:</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: opensans; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;"> Large schools have the capacity to offer more specialized programs for disadvantaged students and students with special needs. A wide variety of classes and activities make it possible for students to find their niche."</span></blockquote>
If you believe that "specialized programs" are the answer to improvement (those who want a job in the "specialized programs" will, of course, promote this), then you will want bigger schools. If on the other hand you believe that a school culture where students form strong relationships with peers and school staff is the better answer to improvement (particularly those who don't want to pay more for every new program that is proposed by those seeking to run the program), you will want smaller schools.<br />
<br />
You might notice another difference. The small schools view, with the wording "...are less likely... are more likely..." show this position to be a supported statement, while "...have the capacity...make it possible..." show this position to be an unsupported opinion.<br />
<br />
The article does bring out the claims of both sides and is worth examination. I believe that the research available on my website shows a much stronger substantiation of claims for smaller (moderately-sized) schools than the claims of those promoting large schools.<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/school-size/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">How important is school size?</span></a><br />
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Which is better? Big or small? It all depends on what's a good fit for your child.<br /><span style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">by: </span><a href="https://www.greatschools.org/gk/author/greatschoolsstaff/" rel="author" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ba3dc; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; letter-spacing: 0.32px; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Posts by GreatSchools Staff">GreatSchools Staff</a><span style="font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;"> </span><span class=" gray-dark" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.32px;">| <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">March 4, 2016</em></span></div>
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by: <a href="https://www.greatschools.org/gk/author/greatschoolsstaff/" rel="author" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2ba3dc; font-style: italic; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Posts by GreatSchools Staff">GreatSchools Staff</a> <span class=" gray-dark" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #999999;">| <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">March 4, 2016</em></span></div>
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<img alt="How important Is school size?" class="img-responsive wp-post-image" data-src="https://www.greatschools.org/gk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/How-important-is-school-size-750x325.jpg" src="https://www.greatschools.org/gk/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/How-important-is-school-size-750x325.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: auto; max-width: 100%; padding-top: 5px; vertical-align: middle;" /></div>
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What’s the right size?</h2>
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When it comes to school size, there is no right size that works for every student. Some students thrive in a smaller environment where they get lots of attention, while others prefer the variety of activities and peer groups available in a larger school. Certainly, small and large schools each have their pros and cons.</div>
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Small schools, a growing trend</h2>
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In the 1960s the general thinking was that larger schools offered more comprehensive instructional programs of greater quality at lower costs than small schools (generally defined as schools of less than 400 to 500 students at the high school level) did. But in recent years researchers have discovered that the cost savings provided by large schools have had a negative effect on student achievement and graduation rates. As schools get bigger, student achievement declines and larger schools have higher rates of absenteeism, dropouts and discipline problems. In addition, “Dollars and Sense II,” a 2005 study of 25 different small schools across the nation found that, on average, small schools spent 17 percent less per student than comparable schools in their districts while achieving equivalent or better results.</div>
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As a result, there has been a growing trend toward creating small schools, and schools within schools, (particularly in high schools) to better engage students and give them more attention. The federal government has issued more than $94 million a year in experimental grants for small learning communities or “SLCs.” School districts may use these grants to create smaller schools within schools. Since 1999, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has committed more than $1.8 billion to creating 1,500 small high schools around the country, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation has committed an additional $32 million to further their efforts, particularly in urban areas.</div>
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How have small schools fared?</h2>
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The Gates Foundation sponsored a study of 24 small schools in 2005 to look at their effects. The study found that some students talked about their teachers as having higher expectations for them because teachers knew more about the students’ capabilities. The 2005 Gates report found that students in small learning communities increased their English test scores but showed a slight decline in math.</div>
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In the Newsweek 2007 list of top high schools in the U.S., 22 of the top 100 schools had fewer than 100 students in their graduating class; the number of small high schools on that list (which is based on the number of students taking college-level tests: Cambridge, International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement) has dramatically increased over the past 10 years.</div>
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However, overall research on the effect of school size on student achievement has been limited. Most recently, another Gates Foundation study looked at the first graduates of 14 of New York City’s new small high schools in 2006. The study shows that attendance was high, ninth-grade promotion rates were high and a majority of the students graduated. A significant number of those graduates were accepted by colleges and more than half of them were the first in their family to attend college.</div>
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But other Gates-funded small schools have run into trouble. In Denver, Colorado, the district used $1 million of Gates Foundation money to convert the 1,100-student Manual High School into small schools. In the process, electives, advanced placement and foreign language courses as well as popular activities like choir, debate and athletic teams were cut back. Many unhappy students left causing enrollment to plunge as well as graduation rates. Denver eventually closed the small schools. The Gates Foundation has realized that curriculum and instruction may be as important as school size.</div>
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Is small the answer?</h2>
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“Small is not enough,” reports Diana Oxley of the University of Oregon in a report entitled “Small Learning Communities.” “Small size creates the conditions to carry out student work that is active and collaborative. However, small size is not an end in itself.” Common planning time, development for teachers and high-quality curriculum are all necessary to make small learning communities work.</div>
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It may not be possible to create small schools or small learning communities in every school district. “There’s not a sufficient number of school leaders and educators to scale up and sustain the small school movement once foundation funding dries up,” says David C. Bloomfield, professor and head of the educational leadership program at the Brooklyn campus of the City University of New York. He is concerned that these issues need to be addressed before the small school movement is expanded and says there are other issues that also demand attention.</div>
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“The small school movement is just nibbling around the edges,” he says. “Small schools, like charter schools, are beacons. But we need to address class size, union contracts and school infrastructure problems-such as inadequate aging science labs- in order to really make a difference.” The movement to create small high schools may succeed in lowering dropout rates but it’s not clear that the students who stay in school will be able to pass high-stakes high school exit exams. “The data is inconclusive as to whether kids will achieve more rather than just staying in school longer and not dropping out,” says Bloomfield.</div>
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Small and large schools: pros and cons</h2>
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Curriculum</h3>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of small schools:</em> Students are more likely to master curriculum in a smaller learning environment.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of large schools:</em> Large schools typically provide a wide variety of classes and services to students.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Other considerations:</em> No real correlation has been demonstrated between school size and curriculum quality.</div>
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Academic achievement</h3>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of small schools:</em> Many believe smaller schools demonstrate greater levels of academic achievement across the board, and particularly for students of lower socioeconomic status.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of large schools:</em> Some studies have shown that larger schools have a moderate benefit on achievement levels for affluent students.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Other considerations:</em> Some studies have shown students from small and large high schools perform comparably on college-related criteria, such as grades, admission and graduation rates.</div>
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Attention to students</h3>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of small schools:</em> Students are less likely to “fall through the cracks” or feel cut off from the school culture. They are more likely to form strong relationships with peers and school staff.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of large schools:</em> Large schools have the capacity to offer more specialized programs for disadvantaged students and students with special needs. A wide variety of classes and activities make it possible for students to find their niche.</div>
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Community</h3>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of small schools:</em> There is generally more parent involvement and a feeling of belonging.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of large schools:</em> Large schools may provide more diversity and may make it easier for different types of students and families to find their niche.</div>
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Finance</h3>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of small schools:</em> Fewer layers of bureaucracy are necessary.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of large schools:</em> Large schools provide opportunities for cost savings through economies of scale.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Other considerations:</em> If small schools graduate more students and have fewer dropouts, then the “ultimate cost” may not be higher than large schools.</div>
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Safety</h3>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Strengths of small schools:</em> It’s easier to spot strangers at small schools; security and discipline are easier to maintain.</div>
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Conclusions</h2>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">It’s easier to develop more meaningful connections among staff, students and parents in small schools.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Large schools may lack a sense of community, but small schools aren’t able to offer as wide a range of activities and a broad curriculum.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Some studies have shown that small schools demonstrate higher achievement levels among students.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">The right size school for your child will depend on his or her needs for attention, curricular offerings and activities.</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Size is only one factor to look at in evaluating a school; the quality of the teachers and what they teach are important factors to consider, too.</li>
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Questions to ask:</h2>
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If your child attends a small school:</h3>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Does the school offer enough variety in the curriculum and extracurricular activities?</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Does the small size feel limiting?</li>
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If your child attends a large school</h3>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Are students getting enough attention from staff?</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Is discipline a problem?</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Is there a way to create small learning communities within the large school so that students receive more attention?</li>
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No matter what size school your child attends:</h3>
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<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Does the school size seem right for your child?</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Are there factors in your community causing an increase or decrease in enrollment?</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Are parents actively involved in the school community and does the staff welcome parent involvement?</li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; padding-bottom: 10px;">Are the majority of students achieving at high levels?</li>
</ul>
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ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-50373508813478762362017-07-17T22:05:00.002-06:002017-07-17T22:05:38.373-06:00Declaration of Educational Independence 2004<div class="p1">
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<span class="s1"> </span><span class="s2"><b>P</b></span><b>IONEER </b><span class="s2"><b>S</b></span><b>CHOOL </b><span class="s2"><b>D</b></span><b>ISTRICT </b><span class="s2"><b>P</b></span><b>ROPOSAL </b></div>
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<span class="s3"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When</span> </span>in the course of growing populations, it becomes necessary for one area to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of other local and similar governing bodies, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Human Nature and of the Governance of Humans entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of the citizens requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. </div>
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<i>We hold these truths to be self-evident</i>, <b>that there are certain needs the people have which can best be provided for collectively</b>, that among these is <b>the education of our children</b>. </div>
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That to secure these needs, <b>local political subdivisions </b>were created as a vehicle to serve, and be subservient to, the citizens in providing them. </div>
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That whenever any political subdivision becomes too large due to natural growth, <b>it begins to take power unto itself </b>and assumes the superior role of ruling the descendants of those who created it. </div>
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That as that situation becomes apparent, it is the right and duty of the residents to create by division, additional subdivisions as will best involve those citizens in their own governance. </div>
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And that in so doing the rising generation may, through their own experience, learn how to govern themselves, thus preserving government of, by, and for the people. </div>
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Guiding this resolve has been evidence provided by research that <b>community-sized school districts are more likely to build modest and appropriately sized schools </b>where <b>parents and teachers are more involved and where students are safer</b>. Community based districts have been better able to respond to the needs of individual communities and are more likely to reflect local community values instead of current fads. </div>
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Smaller school districts have produced significantly better student outcomes with lower per-pupil expenditures nationwide. They are more likely to unite local residents with their neighborhood schools. This improves the district, which raises community pride, and even real estate values. Citizens in community districts are more likely to support bond issues, etc., because they are for their own community. </div>
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In smaller districts board members know the schools intimately through <b>firsthand engagement </b>rather than through <b>printouts and manipulatable bureaucratic data</b>. These conditions cause them to turn their eyes to their real constituencies rather than government and university micromanagers. </div>
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<b>Lower socio-economic areas benefit the most </b>from smaller districts and the smaller schools these districts usually provide. Poverty is almost wiped-out as a negative influence on test scores when both smaller schools and smaller districts are the governing structure. </div>
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Smaller districts provide an <b>accountability </b>that cannot be provided by government mandates and accountability schemes. This unshackles educators so they can provide a better product and answer to the parents instead of the state. </div>
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Large districts are prone to mission creep, building support activities which rapidly lose any connection to the original goal of educating children and typically spend a smaller percentage of their budget on instruction. </div>
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<b>We therefore petition the Honorable Legislative Body of Utah County, based on this national and logical evidence, to conduct a study of the tax base, revenues, hypothetical budget, boundaries, and other issues and consequences of creating a Pioneer School District within the existing boundaries of Lehi High School as shown on the enclosed map. Upon completion of this study and consequent public input period, we ask you to consider placing the issue to a vote of the citizens residing within the current Alpine School District boundaries in the 2004 general election. </b></div>
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-by Rep. David N. Cox </div>
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Signed by over 1,200 residents in Lehi, Eagle Mountain, Saratoga Springs, and Cedar Fort. </div>
ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-30683956622105519752017-04-28T22:28:00.000-06:002017-04-28T22:28:28.007-06:00District division actually makes a middle school drama program available in Jordan DistrictThe principal at a middle school in Jordan School District (Utah) that was divided, told a job candidate (April 2017) that they now have a drama program, that before they could not have. Part of the reason they could now have the program was because of the district division. It freed up the money to hire a drama teacher that was not possible before, because the bigger district kept the money for a district-wide program. They are much happier to have the program at their school level!ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-7979272881415817862015-05-02T23:29:00.001-06:002015-05-05T13:24:39.090-06:00Administrative Costs per Pupil Compared to District Size in Utah 2013-2014These most recent statistics compiled from the Utah Taxpayers
Association "<a href="http://www.utahtaxpayers.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2015-School-Spending-Report-Web.pdf">School Spending Report: Fiscal Year 2013-2014</a>," April 2015 verifies the conclusions of my previous study comparing administrative costs per student to size of district (with the possible change of the number from 1000 to 2000 in student population). This graph shows that while the smallest districts (under 2000) do have higher administrative costs, as stated on the original study: "<a href="http://www.smallerschools.org/research.php?ref=utah-school-districts-by-administrative">Administrative costs bear little, if any, correlation to size of districts over 1,000 students</a>".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIz9p2gBFuSgzUxr_MpIYPQa-q1WvENUy8RtAUTZ72tRCXXHmUM9N_D6dYsho6cqcCnJ3q5H4RiK3TetMgnKb468Y7Dgq4dgeZ_8Z5fccqzXKjKeldtPsxGOfvklkWrYqf5qmTYog1XzbP/s1600/schoolDistrictSizeNoCorrelation.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIz9p2gBFuSgzUxr_MpIYPQa-q1WvENUy8RtAUTZ72tRCXXHmUM9N_D6dYsho6cqcCnJ3q5H4RiK3TetMgnKb468Y7Dgq4dgeZ_8Z5fccqzXKjKeldtPsxGOfvklkWrYqf5qmTYog1XzbP/s320/schoolDistrictSizeNoCorrelation.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Administrative costs, rather than a function of size, are a reflection of decisions made by local boards of education or administrators</b>. Usually the more money they accept from federal government programs, the more they spend in administrative costs per pupil due to government requirements.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The main point is: the assumption that bigger is less expensive with administrative costs is simply not true unless comparing to a district that is very small (like below 2000 students). It is certainly not a reason to avoid dividing a big district into a few community-sized districts. <b>Dividing would not, by itself, cause administrative costs to rise</b>. If they rose it would be for other reasons, such as a community's desires for another program, etc.<br />
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To be more specific, Cache School District has the lowest costs and is about the size that a Lehi School District would be. Alpine (72,419) is 2nd, but Tooele (14,107), South Sanpete (3462), Logan (5987), and Iron (8685) all have less administrative costs per pupil than Jordan or Davis SD. Box Elder (11,131) and tiny Juab (2287) are lower than Granite, Salt Lake, and Nebo.<br />
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 340px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>District</th>
<th align="right">Student Population</th>
<th align="right">Admin $/student</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cache</td>
<td align="right">16038</td>
<td align="right">$ 491.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Alpine</td>
<td align="right">72419</td>
<td align="right">$ 521.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tooele</td>
<td align="right">14107</td>
<td align="right">$ 540.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>So. Sanpete</td>
<td align="right">3462</td>
<td align="right">$ 555.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Logan</td>
<td align="right">5987</td>
<td align="right">$ 556.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Iron</td>
<td align="right">8685</td>
<td align="right">$ 578.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jordan</td>
<td align="right">52855</td>
<td align="right">$ 594.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Davis</td>
<td align="right">68573</td>
<td align="right">$ 595.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Box Elder</td>
<td align="right">11131</td>
<td align="right">$ 596.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Washington</td>
<td align="right">27099</td>
<td align="right">$ 614.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Juab</td>
<td align="right">2287</td>
<td align="right">$ 619.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Granite</td>
<td align="right">68106</td>
<td align="right">$ 623.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Salt Lake</td>
<td align="right">23965</td>
<td align="right">$ 637.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Morgan</td>
<td align="right">2632</td>
<td align="right">$ 652.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Nebo</td>
<td align="right">31230</td>
<td align="right">$ 658.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Weber</td>
<td align="right">31028</td>
<td align="right">$ 658.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sevier</td>
<td align="right">4585</td>
<td align="right">$ 676.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Uintah</td>
<td align="right">7591</td>
<td align="right">$ 697.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Murray</td>
<td align="right">6435</td>
<td align="right">$ 745.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Duchesne</td>
<td align="right">5021</td>
<td align="right">$ 747.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wasatch</td>
<td align="right">5786</td>
<td align="right">$ 757.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ogden</td>
<td align="right">12489</td>
<td align="right">$ 759.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Millard</td>
<td align="right">2841</td>
<td align="right">$ 799.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Provo</td>
<td align="right">14799</td>
<td align="right">$ 813.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Canyons</td>
<td align="right">33674</td>
<td align="right">$ 901.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>No. Summit</td>
<td align="right">990</td>
<td align="right">$ 972.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>So. Summit</td>
<td align="right">1495</td>
<td align="right">$ 979.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Carbon</td>
<td align="right">3369</td>
<td align="right">$ 1,102.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>San Juan</td>
<td align="right">3020</td>
<td align="right">$ 1,106.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Grand</td>
<td align="right">1455</td>
<td align="right">$ 1,128.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Beaver</td>
<td align="right">1579</td>
<td align="right">$ 1,159.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Park City</td>
<td align="right">4630</td>
<td align="right">$ 1,315.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Kane</td>
<td align="right">1212</td>
<td align="right">$ 1,360.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Emery</td>
<td align="right">2310</td>
<td align="right">$ 1,370.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wayne</td>
<td align="right">501</td>
<td align="right">$ 1,512.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Garfield</td>
<td align="right">930</td>
<td align="right">$ 1,554.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tintic</td>
<td align="right">250</td>
<td align="right">$ 2,026.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Rich</td>
<td align="right">479</td>
<td align="right">$ 2,325.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Piute</td>
<td align="right">304</td>
<td align="right">$ 2,380.00 </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Daggett</td>
<td align="right">194</td>
<td align="right">$ 2,825.00 </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-74273216051263402452014-11-20T15:50:00.000-07:002014-11-20T15:50:26.820-07:00Small Schools Work in New YorkMore studies show how smaller schools can make a difference - especially in neighborhoods with <b>higher minority demographics</b>:<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/10/18/opinion/18schools-editorial/18schools-editorial-master675.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/10/18/opinion/18schools-editorial/18schools-editorial-master675.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a>"New smaller high schools, typically in black or Hispanic neighborhoods, serve about 100 students per grade. More than 90 percent of the students attending these schools are black or Hispanic. Nearly 85 percent qualify for free or reduced price lunches. Three-fourths of them began their high school careers performing below grade level in reading or math."</blockquote>
Smaller schools also produce <b>higher graduation and college rates</b>...
<br />
<blockquote>
"Students at small high schools have a graduation rate of 71.6 percent, compared with 62.2 percent for their peers in larger schools. The small-school students are also more likely to graduate in four years and go straight to college. The gains are especially impressive among young black men, 42.3 percent of whom enroll in college as opposed to 31 percent of their peers in the control group. Young black women and young Hispanic men and women also matriculated at higher rates than their large-school peers."</blockquote>
...and <b>lower costs</b>...
<br />
<blockquote>
"The small high schools managed to achieve these gains at a lower cost per graduate than the traditional schools, partly because more students graduated on time and did not need a costly fifth year of education."</blockquote>
...yet people still <b>oppose change</b>!
<br />
<blockquote>
"The teachers union supported the school closure strategy at first, even though it requires teachers to reapply for their jobs and, in many cases, move elsewhere. But it withdrew support when it decided that Mr. Bloomberg was unnecessarily ramming through closures."</blockquote>
Some people just want to hold on to the status quo - even if change is demonstrably better.<br />
Source: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/opinion/small-schools-work-in-new-york.html?_r=0" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/opinion/small-schools-work-in-new-york.html?_r=0</a>CoxWebDevhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05130380647239763450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-28343574698502376492013-11-22T10:49:00.002-07:002013-11-22T10:49:49.162-07:00Small Classes, Small SchoolsPatricia A. Wasley writes a very insightful look at the relationship between small classes and small schools. Of course, research shows that small schools are mostly found in smaller school districts, so this article is a reflection of that, too.
<br />
<blockquote>
Students in schools with large populations of disadvantaged students perform least well on standardized assessments. Evidence also suggests that these schools often have the least-experienced teachers (NCTAF, 1996; Roza, 2001). In effect, having standards in place emphasizes that standards are necessary but insufficient in themselves to improve student performance. Unless we change students' learning opportunities, especially for students who are ill-served by their schools, standards alone are unlikely to influence student learning. Educators and policymakers are looking for strategies that will enable students to succeed on the new assessments (thereby supporting the standards movement) and, more important, that will enhance students' learning opportunities. Small classes and small schools may be two such strategies.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Research conducted on the validity of the assertions favoring large schools has suggested that less-advantaged students end up in the largest classes, with the least-experienced teachers and the least-engaging curriculum and instructional strategies (Oakes, 1987; Wheelock, 1992). Further research suggests that schools are organized more for purposes of maintaining control than for promoting learning (McNeil, 1988).</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Powell (1996) examined independent schools in the United States and learned that private preparatory schools value both small school and small class size as necessary conditions for student success. In 1998, the average private school class size was 16.6 at the elementary level and 11.6 at the high school level. By contrast, the average class size was 18.6 in public elementary schools and 14.2 in public high schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 1999).</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Despite parental involvement and teachers' good intentions, it is easy for students to get lost in large classes and in large schools.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Colleagues and I recently conducted a study of small schools in Chicago. Part of our time was spent in a small school-within-a-school with eight teachers. Because they were few, they could meet together every day for an hour, work toward common agreements and understandings, and accept shared responsibility for their students. They discussed the curriculum in all subjects, agreed on instructional approaches, and tried to build as much coherence in the curriculum as they could manage. In the larger school, which had some 70 faculty members, a common agenda simply wasn't possible.</blockquote>
Read more from the original article: <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb02/vol59/num05/Small-Classes,-Small-Schools@-The-Time-Is-Now.aspx">http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb02/vol59/num05/Small-Classes,-Small-Schools@-The-Time-Is-Now.aspx</a>CoxWebDevhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05130380647239763450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-33984092472848525952013-11-20T04:10:00.003-07:002013-11-20T12:14:11.232-07:00The Answer is Reduce School District SizeMike Antonucci, director of the Education Intelligence Agency (EIA), gives more information about how reducing school district size can solve many of the problems in education. His first bullet point is as follows:<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">One of the bits of information the EIA tables provide is whether a school district spent 65 percent or more on "instruction."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">EIA ranked all 14,218 school districts by enrollment and checked the correlation between size and the ability to reach the 65 percent instructional threshold. The results should surprise economists, but not observers of public education.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">In 2003-04, the U.S. had 26 school districts with <b>more than 100,000</b> students. Of these, only New York City and Cobb County, Georgia, met the 65% threshold. That's a success rate of <b>7.7 percent</b>.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">An additional 61 school districts had between <b>50,000 and 100,000</b> students. Of these, five (<b>8.2 percent</b>) met the mark.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">Let's continue down the rankings. There were 170 school districts with <b>25,000 to 50,000</b> students. Of these, 25 spent 65% on instruction (<b>14.7 percent</b>).</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">Then we reach a plateau. There were 7,152 districts with an enrollment between <b>1,000 and 25,000</b> students. Of these, 1,213 (<b>17.0 percent</b>) reached 65% on instructional spending. No matter how you subdivide this group, there is little deviation in how many districts meet the mark. But below 1,000 enrollment, the pattern resumed.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">There were 2,382 districts with between <b>500 and 1,000</b> students. Of these, 476 (<b>20.0 percent</b>) reached the 65% mark. And of the 4,427 districts with <b>fewer than 500 students</b>, 976 (<b>22.0 percent</b>) met the 65% mark.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-size: small;">There are variety of theories to explain why this should be so, but <b><i>the data demolish any notion that increasing the size of a school district will increase the resources available to spend "in the classroom." On the contrary: the larger the district, the greater the chance that more money will be spent on "non-instructional" programs and personnel.</i></b></span></blockquote>
</span>
Read more from the original article: <a href="http://www.eiaonline.com/archives/20060501.htm">http://www.eiaonline.com/archives/20060501.htm</a>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-12350106294373152282013-11-20T04:02:00.001-07:002013-11-20T11:55:40.130-07:00Larger School Districts Tend to Veer 'Off Task'Vin Suprynowicz, assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, recently posted about the problems that large school districts are prone to have.<br />
<br />
Read more from the original article here: <a href="http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/suprynowicz030316.html">http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/suprynowicz030316.html</a>
<br />
<blockquote>
<a href="http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/pix/suprynowicz030316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/pix/suprynowicz030316.jpg" width="266" /></a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">"While espousing the virtues of small schools with a community atmosphere, our public school system has monstrously
large school districts, mainly in poor urban areas, which are home to
the worst problems in education."</span>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">And of course, caught up as they are in the supposed "efficiencies of scale," the largest districts tend to house
the largest schools -- Los Angeles Unified, alone, accounting for five
of America's 15 largest campuses. </span>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">...</span>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">The Los Angeles district actually managed to lose track of $228 million last year -- a mere 5 percent of its budget.
"The (district) does not know how many employees it has working in what position at any given time, or how much they get paid," reported L&L Fuller Inc. in an official 1999 audit. </span>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">...</span>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: small;">A number of researchers over the past 10
years have found that large districts are increasingly "off task," in
the language of education. A 1989 study from the magazine Education and
Urban Society found, "As specialization in staff grows, program
offerings expand, and administrative personnel increase, problems of
coordination and control also increase. And in large systems, time and
energy are more likely to be shifted away from core service activities." </span></blockquote>
<br />
So why is there so much resistance to dividing large school districts?<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">School teachers' and administrators' unions "don't control the size of school districts directly, but they do resist efforts to break up large ones. ... Why? Because it's a lot easier for union officials to organize, administer and oversee one local union of eight thousands teachers than to have 80 local unions with 100 teachers each."</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">
Larger districts are handier for administrators, too, Mr. Brimelow points out. "The larger the district, the larger the bureaucracy and the higher the career ladder. The American government school system suffers from penalties of scale. Through the principle of bureaucratic bloat known as Parkinson's Law, the larger a school district gets, the more resources tend to get diverted to secondary or even nonessential activities."</span><br />
</span>
</blockquote>
<br />ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-31301364817251526702013-05-30T09:34:00.001-06:002013-05-30T10:19:35.688-06:00Videos interviewing David Cox during the campaign to divide Utah's largest school district in 2007The following 6 videos were made to highlight the history, reasoning, progress, and issues of dividing large school districts during the 2007 campaign to divide Utah's largest school district at that time, Jordan S.D.<br />
<br />
#1 of 6 How I came to realize the principle of dividing as the solution.<br />
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BsVWnVHC5yg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
#2 of 6 The history of Utah legislation for dividing school districts.<br />
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/l0Ma_FvPNes" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
#3 of 6 Why dividing large school districts is a better answer than vouchers.<br />
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MIHnnzE5vSg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
#4 of 6 Many of the problems in education are because of large schools caused by large districts.<br />
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WABitD-kFwM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
#5 of 6 This video deals with some finance issues of dividing large school districts.<br />
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hrGxAnspmss" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
#6 of 6 My advice to educators regarding dividing large school districts.<br />
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yQeqbtkKKEA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-51705353384028890182013-05-28T19:44:00.001-06:002013-05-30T10:20:41.869-06:00California 2011 study of their smaller school districts<p>California <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqERjPYH4lw">published a study on whether to consolidate its smaller school districts</a> it did in 2011. It looked at costs and benefits. There were some interesting findings.</p>
<ol>
<li>They found among other things that medium-sized districts did better in student performance than the large or very small sized districts.</li>
<li>While very small districts cost much more, districts of over 1000 students were considered as economical as large districts.</li>
<li>Most communities preferred their own school district and did not want to consolidate.</li>
<li>They determined that there would not be substantial savings financially for consolidating nor would there be improvements in student performances.</li>
<li>In the end, they recommended not forcing consolidation, but rather to eliminate disincentives for consolidating for districts under 100 students (which I agree with).</li>
</ol>
<p>This video is almost 10 minutes long, concise, and worth watching. </p>
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BqERjPYH4lw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-22991309046953293402013-05-18T22:37:00.002-06:002013-05-30T10:21:32.804-06:00Schools are better governed locally<span style="background-color: #ffffea;">"If it is believed that... elementary schools will be better managed by the governor and council, the commissioners of the literary fund or any other general authority of the government than by the parents within each ward, it is a belief against all experience. Try the principle one step further, and... commit to the governor and council the management of all our farms, our mills and merchants' stores. No, my friend, the way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to every one exactly the functions he is competent to." --Thomas Jefferson to Joseph C. Cabell, 1816. ME 14:420</span>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-44057853740128691372013-03-12T20:41:00.001-06:002013-03-12T20:41:18.798-06:00More supporting researchMore research can be found at <a href="http://smallerschoolsresearch.blogspot.com/">http://smallerschoolsresearch.blogspot.com/</a>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-608992505516556938.post-53752628338395547402013-03-12T20:35:00.000-06:002013-03-12T20:35:03.822-06:00QuotesThese three quotes need to be considered:<br />
<a href="http://www.smallerschools.org/smallerschools_old/quotes.php">Thomas Jefferson, Mahatma Gandhi, Ezra T. Benson</a>ConservativeTeacherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03031798526224010807noreply@blogger.com0