Tom Nelson's List: Feasability

• Conant (1959) determined that in order to offer the best possible college preparatory curriculum, a high school should have at least 100 students in its graduating class. Conant stated that the most outstanding problem in education was the small high school, and that the elimination of small high schools would result in increased cost-effectiveness and greater curricular offerings. Many who research trends in school consolidation believe that Conant’s study and subsequent book   The American High School Today, contributed much to the move toward school consolidation

  • 100 students? our three HS's would graduate? 175ish?
• ….consolidation has been a defining characteristic of educational history throughout the twentieth century. This characteristic was driven by a powerful assumption, albeit an unsubstantiated one, concerning the best way to go about the business of public schooling. And that assumption is that “bigger is better.” Throughout the century, this unsupported educational policy was vehemently espoused even though it was demonstrably unkind to communities.” (Cited in Theobald, 2002).

  • is bigger better? I always preah that less is more
• “Mansfield has a hard enough time now keeping on the map. If they moved the school, it’d be much harder. People go to things at school now even if they don’t have kids in school. This is a football town and people know the kids. I’d hate to see consolidation. I like things the way they are” (Peshkin, 1978).

  • sound familiar?
• A 1995 study of Oklahoma superintendents on school consolidation planning revealed that successful consolidation strategies involved joint student body activities, a consolidation plan, maintaining all school sites, and community meetings designed to allow open communication were “vital to the consolidation process”

  • leadership from the top is very important
• A study of eight communities in North Dakota that had experienced school consolidations showed that the most important factor in easing the process of consolidation was holding public meetings

  • we need a public forum for post and debate
• Critics of consolidation argue that “under the rubric of school improvement, many places that once provided school no longer do; for they have been improved out of existence”

  • hmmm?
• The thought was that not only were small schools necessary, their strengths included a higher number of students involved in extra curricular activities, higher numbers of students taking academic courses, more attention by teachers due to lower pupil teacher ratio, and students who had a close connection to their communities. Nachtigal says that research is affirming these strengths.

  • student to teacher ratio not relevant
• Ilvento stresses the importance of connecting the rural school to the community through the curriculum, and the need for flexibility in policies to meet local needs.

  • what is our community? Liberty is three maybe four communities in 1
• Fox’s 1981 study of educational costs as a function of school size yielded a U-shaped curve in which both the very small and the very large schools were the most expensive to operate. Urban school administrators themselves have turned to creating “schools within schools,” concluding that large schools create an impersonal climate that contributes to school failure for some students.

  • that would put us in the middle of a u-curve by no means being large and impersonal
• Other research reviews suggest a maximum of 300-400 students for elementary schools and 400-800 for secondary schools. If the study focused on social and emotional aspects of success, then the research indicated that no school should be larger than 500. Research by Howley and Bickel (2000) indicated that the lower the socioeconomic status of the students and/or district, then the school enrollment should be small. From reviewing the literature, it appears that there is not an ideal or optimal district or school size that is universally agreed upon.

  • interesting stats, we are on the fence
• In studies from 1960 through 2004, there has not been evidence that consolidation of small districts into larger districts has necessarily reduced fiscal expenditures per pupil

  • thats a good thing, we shouldn't be doing it for $ anyway, it should be a decision based on whats best educationally
• Mary Anne Raywid concluded that, “When viewed on a cost-per-student basis, they (small schools) are somewhat more expensive. But when examined on the basis of the number of students they graduate, they are less expensive than either medium-sized or large high schools.” (1999, p.2, EDO-RC-98-8). Funk et al. (1999) indicated that dropouts are three times more likely to be unemployed; two and a half more likely to receive welfare benefits, and over three times more likely to be in prison than high school graduates with no college. Therefore, “small schools help increase the number of economically productive adults and cut government costs.” (The Rural School and Community Trust, 2004).

  • oh really?
• Bussing students to and from schools adds another dimension to the consolidation issue. Lu and Tweeten (1973) found that achievement scores were reduced by 2.6 points for fourth-grade students or every hour spent riding a bus. High school students were not affected as adversely as students in elementary school, losing only0.5 points per hour spent riding a bus.

  • need to review this data
• These studies and others have concluded that one must consider not only the financial implications, but also the implications of consolidation on student achievement, self-concept, participation in extracurricular activities, dropout rates, and on the community itself.

  • absolutely

• Since there is not a universally agreed upon school or district size, is there evidence that school size does make a difference? A review of the literature certainly seems to indicate that small schools and/or districts have advantages over larger schools and/or districts.

    

  Cotton (1996) built an impressive case for the advantages of small schools by a quantitative study of the literature. Her analysis indicated an advantage for small schools in the following areas: achievement, attitude toward school, social behavior problems, extracurricular participation, feelings of belongingness, interpersonal relations, attendance, dropout rate, self-concept, and success in college among others. Cotton lists eighteen major points as strengths of small schools in the summary and conclusion of the report. Cotton further stated, “the states with the largest schools and school districts have the worst achievement, affective, and social outcomes.”

    

  Research by Cox (2002), Lawrence et al. (2002) and Howley and Bickel (2000) have all indicated a strong relationship between school size and student achievement. Howley (2000) stated that, “Recent literature relating district size to school performance rests almost entirely on a indirect relationship in which socioeconomic status and size work jointly to influence school performance.” Therefore, students from less affluent communities appear to have better achievement in small

  • what defines a small school?
• Darling-Hamond as early as 1998 concluded that four factors affect student achievement: smaller school size (300 to 500 students); smaller class size, especially in elementary schools; challenging curriculum, and more highly qualified teacher (as cited in Picard, 2003).

  • a consolidated HS is not far past 500 kids, class sizes will remain if we keep teachers, curriculum is a priority always, better teachers?
• The NREA realizes that in some situations, consolidation may be inevitable, as in situations where the population has declined to the point that a quality education cannot be provided to all students.

  • when are we there? or are we all ready?
• rural schools and communities should work together to form strong partnerships, examine all possible variables, and make well-informed decisions based on all possible data before embarking on the path toward consolidation. Each district and each school is unique because of location, culture or size. Before consolidation is considered, districts should look in depth at the implications of fiscal, educational, and community advantages and disadvantages.

  • and there it is in a nutshell, best writing in this study, lets hope our board leads it.
• • There should not be “forced” consolidation.
     
  • There is no “ideal” size for schools or districts.
     
  • “Size” does not guarantee success – good schools come in all sizes.
     
  • Smaller districts have better achievement, affective and social outcomes.
     
  • The larger a district becomes, the more resources are devoted to secondary or non-essential activities.
     
  • Local school officials should be wary of merging several smaller elementary schools, at least if the goal is improved performance.
     
  • After a school closure, out migration, population decline, and neighborhood deterioration are set in motion, and support for public education diminishes.
     
  • There is no solid foundation for the belief that eliminating school districts will improve education, enhance cost-effectiveness or promote equality.
     
  • There is a strong negative correlation between district size and student achievement in low-income populations.

  • there is the summary

17 more annotations...

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-13

• 1,517

  • Highest average school enrollment
• 213   903

  • lowest average school size
• 905   711

  • nullPA's average, the mean of the lowest and highest is -- 2009-04-01
    865 -- 2009-04-01
    

1 more annotation...

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-08

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-08

• Two researchers who examined the effect of school size on student performance concluded that the ideal size for a school appears to be between 600 and 900 students (Lee & Smith, as cited in Arnold, 2000).

  • Here it is again, check out the 2 links above - GREAT STUFF!

• The Independent Regulatory Review Commission approved the teacher certification changes that will take effect on Jan. 1, 2013.

  • This is old news soon to be new news!
• “The research is clear that the quality of instruction is a primary factor in determining student success,” Zahorchak said. “Quality teaching leads to improved student achievement.”

  • of course
• The new regulations would eliminate the existing certification for kindergarten through 6th grade teachers, replacing it with two new categories:  one for pre-K through 4th grade teachers and the other for 4th through 8th grade teachers.

   

   

   

  The changes will ensure college and university teacher preparation programs produce graduates who have a greater depth of knowledge in content areas, a deeper understanding of child development and a wider variety of instructional skills to be able to teach a diverse range of learners, including children with disabilities and English language learners.

  • what and why is answered
• “With the increased emphasis we have placed on early childhood education in Pennsylvania, we need to have teachers who have the knowledge and skills to teach our youngest learners,” Zahorchak said. “Equally important is the need for more specialization at the middle grade levels.”

  • hope!

2 more annotations...

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-08

• According to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, students must be 100 % proficient in reading and math by 2014.
• The 2007-08 targets were 56% proficient or advanced in math and 63% proficient or advanced in reading.

  • we have 3 schools on the warning list and a long way to go

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-08

• at small (under 500 students) and medium size (between 501 and 1500 students) high schools in New York City are better than the citywide average for all schools

  • looks like less than 500 is small, 500-1500 is medium
• “Our findings support other research that suggests that the optimal high school size may be 600 to 900 students.”

  • 600-900

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-13

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-13

• One of the few contrary results comes from an Illinois study over a ten-year  period that concluded that the lowest high school achievement (on three standardized tests) came from schools with fewer than 495 students. Highest  achievement was found in high schools with 495 to 1200 students (Ornstein, 1993). On the other hand, for elementary school students the situation was reversed, and smaller schools produced superior achievement.

  • small elementary larger HS

• 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.

  • less than 900 is ok

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-13

• In the Lee and Smith study, low-income students made the greatest academic gains in schools of 600-900 students. Academic gains for both low-income and high-income students declined in schools enrolling fewer than 600 students, and declined again in schools enrolling fewer than 300 .

  • more on the lee article and research
• Best results were obtained in medium-sized schools with a cohort of about 180 to 200 students per grade, and the worst in the very small or very large schools. Boys and girls also did better in single-sex schools, especially girls in single-sex comprehensive schools.

  • graduating class size ideal at 180-200
• Based on visits to or surveys of 2000 schools, Conant concluded that "an excellent comprehensive high school can be developed in any school district provided the high school enrolls at least 750 students and sufficient funds are available" (1967, p. 2).

  • 750 is best or more
• In fact, they found that both teacher education and larger schools "correlated with higher test scores among certain groups" (p. 30).

  • large school s+ teacher education

• Larger high schools can also benefit students with learning disabilities or underachieving students who are potential drop-outs by providing the intensive help with reading and mathematics these students need, as well as a choice of career-oriented curricula and academic coursework at their level of skill. This is what an award-winning vocational/technical high school in Massachusetts does.

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  It enrolls over 900 students, a large number of whom are special education students or are well below grade level in reading and mathematics for other reasons; it has almost a 100% pass rate on the state's grade 10 high stakes tests and an attrition rate of less than 1%; and it sends about half of its graduates on to some form of post-secondary education (see the range of offerings of the Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School at www.valleytech.k12.ma.us).

  • great stat
• Finally, larger high schools may provide more challenging academic coursework than tiny high schools for the broad middle range of students who now graduate from high school but learn much less than they can. About 50% of these students now take remedial courses in reading and mathematics at the post-secondary level. Small high schools tend to offer a one-size-fits-all curriculum, which can make sense only if students have chosen to attend these high schools.

  • shooting for the middle?
• Second, we need a strong discipline-based academic curriculum for grades 5-8, with each subject taught by a content specialist. The KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) schools are outstanding models of what is needed at the middle school level. According to a recent evaluation, these schools produce a higher level of achievement than demographically similar schools.

  • need to look into KIPP
• Finally, grade 9 should provide an intensive, transition-year program to students with serious limitations in reading, writing, and mathematics. In addition, all graduating grade 8 students should be able to choose the academic or technical/vocational school program they wish to pursue in high school, as well as to attend either a co-ed high school or a single-sex high school. Boys' schools should be staffed chiefly by male teachers. No matter what curriculum a student pursues in grades 9 to 12, however, all students should be required to study the four core subjects of English, history/geography/U.S. government, science, and mathematics and take end-of-course tests in these courses. All high schools should also provide leveled courses in each core subject in one time block to permit acceleration or remediation (as does Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School), with summer school courses available to facilitate acceleration or remediation. Such requirements will allow students to transfer from one high school to another, if they so choose, and to qualify for post-secondary study no matter what high school they have attended.

  • these are good recs

6 more annotations...

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-13

• Three research questions guided the study: (a) Which size high school is most effective for students' learning?, (b) In which size high school is learning most equitably distributed?, and (c) Are size effects consistent across high schools defined by their social compositions? Results suggest that the ideal high school, defined in terms of effectiveness (i. e., learning), enrolls between 600 and 900 students.

  • 600-900, read on to see more on SES, we have a lot to talk about

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-13

• Larger high schools can also benefit students with learning disabilities or underachieving students who are potential drop-outs by providing the intensive help with reading and mathematics these students need, as well as a choice of career-oriented curricula and academic coursework at their level of skill. This is what an award-winning vocational/technical high school in Massachusetts does. It enrolls over 900 students, a large number of whom are special education students or are well below grade level in reading and mathematics for other reasons; it has almost a 100% pass rate on the state’s grade 10 high stakes tests and an attrition rate of less than 1%; and it sends about half of its graduates on to some form of post-secondary education (see the range of offerings of the Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School at www.valleytech.k12.ma.us).

  • Support for larger schools advantage to low and high achieving students
• Second, we need a strong discipline-based academic curriculum for grades 5-8

  • support for the middle school
• Finally, grade 9 should provide an intensive, transition-year program to students with serious limitations in reading, writing, and mathematics

  • 9th is the transition year

1 more annotation...

• sent to barb - Tom Nelson on 2009-04-13