Save Tharwa School

Below I have posted the major points on school sizes, including cost-effectiveness, from a 2002 US literature review “National Evaluation of Smaller Learning Communities”. Link to full article up soon.

Does school size make a difference in student academic achievement, and does it affect the gap between the academic achievement of wealthier and poorer students?
- Smaller schools are associated with greater student learning.
- Smaller schools are associated with greater educational equity.
- Overall, academic achievement is contingent on the family’s socio-economic status.
- The negative effects of large school size on the achievement of low-income students exceeds the positive effects of large school size on the achievement of students from wealthier families.

Does school size make a difference in availability of and student participation in extracurricular activities?·
- Smaller schools offer proportionally the same number—or more—and a greater variety of extracurricular opportunities.
- In smaller schools, a comparatively large proportion of students participate in such activities than do students in larger schools.
- Student participation tends to be more meaningful or active.
- The “extra richness” of larger schools does not to keep pace with the increase in school size.

Does school size influence attendance and dropout rates?
- Smaller schools have better attendance rates, lower dropout rates, and higher graduation rates than larger schools.

Does school size influence student attitudes? Does it influence their behavior? What is the relationship between school size and students’ sense of belonging?
- Small schools have been found to have more positive effects on students’ attitudes and behavior.
- Very small schools, however, have been found to have negative effects on students’ attitudes and behavior.
- The positive effects are particularly prominent for students of low SES.
- Creating large schools by small school consolidation would increase student misbehavior.

Are small schools less cost-effective than large ones?
- Research on cost-effectiveness shows that, after controlling for the effects of poverty, small schools are just as cost-effective, if not more so, than large ones, especially when the cost per graduate (rather than per pupil) is considered.

Does school size make a difference in teacher attitudes?
- Small schools have been found to have a positive effect on teachers.
- In smaller schools, school administrators are perceived more positively, and teacher morale is higher.
- Positive outcomes for teachers in small schools include stronger feelings of commitment and a stronger sense of professional community.

Taken together, the research discussed above suggests that small schools have been associated with greater student learning, greater social equity of educational achievement, and greater engagement in school than large schools .

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 14th, 2006 at 6:17 pm and is filed under General, Research on Small Schools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.