Department of Education
“School Size”
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/pi/hs/schoolsize.html
Among current research findings:
- Large high schools, particularly those serving low-income students, have disproportionately lower achievement and higher incidences of violence than smaller schools serving similar student populations.
- In small schools, students tend to be more satisfied, more academically productive, more likely to participate in school activities, better behaved, and less likely to drop out than students in large schools.
- The size of high schools may have an indirect effect on student learning. Essentially, more moderately sized schools-those with 900 or fewer students-likely improve the climate and conditions for student success, especially teacher sense of self-efficacy and appropriate sense of responsibility for student learning, when accompanied by high expectations, standards and supporting strategies. (Report available for a fee.)
- Smaller schools also may be safer because students feel less alienated, more nurtured and more connected to caring adults, and teachers feel that they have more opportunity to get to know and support their students.
- While small schools have a higher cost per pupil than large schools, they have a lower cost per graduate (290K) since they tend to have lower dropout rates. Also, the higher percentage of dropouts from large schools carries additional societal costs.