Category: Studies

Education.com

“Size Matters: The Difference Between Big and Small Schools”

https://www.education.com/magazine/article/size-matters-difference-big-small/

 

“It’s a matter of logic: smaller schools typically have smaller classes, and low teacher-student ratios translate into more focus on your child and his education. From a cognitive standpoint, scaling back class size is good because it offers the opportunity to delve deeper into the curriculum and move through it at a faster pace. In fact, many studies show improvement in instructional quality and academic success at small schools. It’s equally beneficial from a social standpoint—fewer students in the room make class participation inescapable, but also usually less intimidating. The size of such schools actually promotes belongingness; it becomes difficult for kids to go unnoticed and slip through the proverbial cracks. The Chicago Public School system small schools website puts it this way: “Smaller numbers of students, a more intimate and personalized learning environment, and a cohesive vision among teachers characterize small schools.”

Smaller schools operate more like a community than a corporation. They frequently have a greater sense of unity, especially if they are built around a particular belief system (religious, educational, cultural, philosophical, etc.) shared by the parents and faculty alike. Another reason for this close-knit feel is that there are often more opportunities for kids to participate. Take, for example, a typical high school sports team. In a big school, competition is fierce for a coveted few spots; those students who make the team gain a personal investment in the school, while those who don’t make the roster—and their families, by extension—may walk away feeling marginalized. In smaller schools the chance for student participation is recurrently higher because students are required rather than redundant; as a result, children in smaller schools and their families have more of a stake in their school.”

 

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.