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In 1992, William Fowler said, “There is a natural predilection in American education toward enormity, and it does not serve schools well.” More recently, Rotherham (1999) has argued that “Smaller, more autonomous, flexible, and accountable schools should characterize education in the next century” (p. 52).
Over the past several decades we have consolidated rural school districts and created schools in urban areas that house thousands of students. For example, since World War II, the number of schools in the United States declined by 70 percent, while the average size increased fivefold (Rotherham, 1999). Nationwide, 25 percent of secondary schools have more than 1,000 students; in New York City there are nine schools with more than 4,000 students. The largest is John F. Kennedy High School with 5,300.
The advantages of larger schools, many believe, are that they offer economies of scale (e.g., lower costs per student) and the capacity to offer a more varied and high quality curriculum. Some suggest these economies of scale actually may be penalties of scale because they require more layers of support and bureaucracy in larger schools. Some researchers maintain that when per pupil costs are calculated on the number of students who actually graduate from a school, rather than on the number served, these so-called savings largely disappear (Lee and Smith, 1996). Finally, there are the “costs” to the students who attend the large schools, including lower levels of achievement, less involvement in school activities, more problems related to safety and discipline, and lower graduation rates.
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Small schools popular with public National data collected by Phi Delta Kappan (Rose and Gallup, 1998) show that U.S. parents overwhelmingly favor small schools: 58 percent favor a school with fewer than 1,000 students, while 28 percent supported schools having populations between 1,000 and 1,500. Only 2 percent said they preferred schools of more than 2,000. A 1997 study by the Hudson Institute found that 53 percent of parents who chose charter schools instead of traditional public schools did so because the charter schools were smaller in size. Similar data have been reported for parents who choose private and parochial schools. |
Small Schools Defined
Recent research on the effect of school size on student achievement indicates that a small school strategy may be a powerful school improvement model. While there is no single definition of “smallness,” some research indicates that an effective size for an elementary school is in the range of 300-400 students and that 400-800 students is appropriate for a secondary school (Cotton, 1996). Lee and Smith (1996) argue that slightly larger secondary schools, from 600-900 students, are necessary for good curricular diversity. On the other hand, small school advocates such as Deborah Meier and Ted Sizer of the Coalition of Essential Schools, believe that no secondary school should exceed 300 students (Cushman, 1997).
The small school model can be attained by dividing an existing large school building into two or more smaller, autonomous schools. This has been done in Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, and numerous other locations.
The Benefits of Smaller Schools
For both elementary and secondary students of all ability levels and in all kinds of settings, research has repeatedly found small schools to be superior to large schools on most measures and equal to them on the rest.
A 1996 review of 103 studies identifies the relationship of school size to various aspects of schooling (Cotton, 1996):
There is increasing evidence that school size and poverty interact to affect student achievement. Research (Strange, 1997) from Alaska, California and West Virginia indicates that:
This research indicates that large schools not only hurt poor students, but actually increase the educational gap between wealthy and poor children.
Researchers long have reported that the strongest predictor of student success or failure is the social condition in which children and families live. Schools cannot change these conditions; however, they can take steps to ameliorate the effects of poverty and related circumstances which affect so many children. For example, Maeroff (1998) and others point out that small school size, in which adults can give more attention to each student, can help to address the fact that so many students come to school lacking in “social capital.” Four kinds of social capital typically are described:
Conclusion
Initially, there may be some dollar savings that are a result of school consolidation or creation of larger schools. However, research shows there are significant and long-lasting costs in the form of lower levels of student achievement; more problems related to safety, violence, and discipline; and lower rates of attendance and graduation. These are costs which are more likely to be paid first by poor and minority children, but which ultimately are borne by the entire society.
—Division for Instruction and Professional Development
Sources
Cotton, Kathleen. School Size, School Climate, and Student Performance. Portland, Oregon: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1996.
Cushman, Kathleen. “Why Small Schools are Essential.” Horace (January, 1997).
Fowler, William J. Jr. “What do We Know about School Size? What Should We Know?” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (San Francisco, CA, April 20-24, 1992.
Irmsher, Karen. “School Size,” ERIC Digest 113, July 1997. Available at http://eric.uroregon.edu/publications/digests/digest113.html
Lee, Valerie E. and Julie B. Smith. “High School Size: Which Works Best, And For Whom?” Paper presented at the annual AERA, New York 1996. ED396888.
Maeroff, Gene I. “Altered Destinies: Making Life Better for Children in Need.” Phi Delta Kappan (February 1998): 24-32.
Rotherham, Andrew. “When It Comes to School Size, Smaller is Better.” Education Week (February 24, 1999). Available at www.edweek.org/
Strange, Marty. “Policy Matters: Large Schools Work Against Poor Students.” Ruralmatters (Fall 1997).
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