Small Schools Work in New York

More studies show how smaller schools can make a difference - especially in neighborhoods with higher minority demographics:

"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."

Smaller schools also produce higher graduation and college rates...

"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."

...and lower costs...

"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."

...yet people still oppose change!

"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."

Some people just want to hold on to the status quo - even if change is demonstrably better.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/18/opinion/small-schools-work-in-new-york.html?_r=0

Small Classes, Small Schools

Patricia 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.

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.

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).

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).

Despite parental involvement and teachers' good intentions, it is easy for students to get lost in large classes and in large schools.

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.

Read more from the original article: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb02/vol59/num05/Small-Classes,-Small-Schools@-The-Time-Is-Now.aspx

Videos interviewing David Cox during the campaign to divide Utah's largest school district in 2007

The 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.

#1 of 6 How I came to realize the principle of dividing as the solution.
#2 of 6 The history of Utah legislation for dividing school districts.
#3 of 6 Why dividing large school districts is a better answer than vouchers.
#4 of 6 Many of the problems in education are because of large schools caused by large districts.
#5 of 6 This video deals with some finance issues of dividing large school districts.
#6 of 6 My advice to educators regarding dividing large school districts.

Students at Small High Schools Are More Likely to Graduate

 A new study published in the New York Times shows the value of smaller schools - about 100 students per grade - in big city settings.  They found that these schools had a higher graduation rate.  "The higher graduation rate at small schools held across the board for all students, regardless of race, family income...."

Students in these schools are also more ready for college.  "Small-school students also showed more evidence of college readiness...."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/education/new-york-city-students-at-small-public-high-schools-are-more-likely-to-graduate-study-finds.html?_r=2

Developing Responsible Citizens

Peter Levine makes the case in this article that smaller schools will do a better job of helping develop more responsible youth. He says, "If we hope to create effective, committed, and responsible citizens, huge schools have several marked disadvantages." He further says, "In a huge high school, there is little chance that any adult will try to steer a student who is on a mediocre track onto a more challenging one."

To increase "civics" in our youth, more civics classes are not the answer. We need smaller schools where the youth will find adults who are more likely to know and guide them. We also need smaller school districts and other local governments, where the youth are more likely to know someone who is an elected leader, someone who is actively participating in government. They are more likely to learn about government that way than attending many "civics" classes.