Building Small Schools for a Stronger Future

Tommy Griffin

Dr. Spencer

LA - 301

12 May 2005

Building Small Schools Builds for a Stronger Future

People live in a world today that is very much different from that of prior generations. The world around us is moving very fast and technology is increasing at a rapid rate. In order for a particular society to keep pace with those around them, citizens must be adequately prepared to contribute when they become of appropriate age. This preparation in the United States is lacking as many students either drop out of high school or do not graduate with the knowledge and skills necessary to take the next step into the college or business world. The typically large high schools across the country are failing in their mission to prepare all of their students for life after high school. As of 2002, only 71% of students are graduating from high school (Green). With many businesses starting to require a higher level of education from their employees, a change must result. A high school diploma no longer means that a student is qualified for a job or even for college. As a result, the nation's high schools must do a better job of preparing students, the future of our country, for both the college and business worlds. Although traditionally large high schools offer a wider range of courses, these high schools must be converted into smaller, more efficient schools. More so than large schools, small high schools allow teachers to increase personal interaction with students and other teachers, provide counselors with a better opportunity to identify and assist students in need, decrease violence, and create a variety of schools from which a student can choose. Researchers and analysts that study the effectiveness of high schools often disagree when attempting to distinguish small schools from large schools. No specific number of students defines the size of a school; however, for sake of this argument a small school is considered to have 800 students or less.

Common sense tells us that interpersonal relationships improve within a group as the size of the group decreases. For example, one expects that members of a ten-person bible study club would report experiencing higher levels of interaction within the group than would the hundreds of individuals that make up a city hall council. Like the intimate bible study group, small high schools, when compared with larger schools, allow for increased personal interaction because of the relationships established between students and faculty, faculty and other faculty, and students and other students. A decreased student-to-faculty ratio facilitates this increase in interaction among its members. Teachers at small schools are better able to develop relationships with their students, which leads to better instruction from the teacher because he or she is able to adapt her teaching strategy to meet the specific needs of each student. Research indicates that a positive correlation exists between small schools and favorable interpersonal relations, specifically in the area concerning teachers attention and care for the individual student. On the other hand, no research has been found that shows equal or superior results in large schools (Gottfredson). In addition to student-to-faculty interaction, small schools encourage teacher-to-teacher interaction. The Bill and Melinda Gates website reports that small schools allow the

... faculty to share ideas about teaching and to serve as friendly critics by offering suggestions about how to improve lessons and classroom management...Through collaboration, teachers can see the type and quality of work that students can produce in different settings with different teachers, a practice that almost always results in a greater appreciation of students' talents and raised expectations of even the lowest-performing students (7).

Another significant aspect similar to the aforementioned would be the interaction between students. Promotion of personal student-to-student interaction stimulates peer discussion and critique, which increases the students' abilities to communicate and work with peers, either one on one or in a group. Being able to work productively with peers is a skill that is vital to success after high school.

Students entering high school experience a completely new sense of freedom. No longer are students escorted to the lunchroom and influenced by peers no older than that of the eighth grade age. High school students suddenly find themselves in a new world filled with temptations that for the most part did not exist in middle school. As students progress through high school, most gradually grow further and further away from their parental figures. With this in mind, the successful and positive influence of high school counselors becomes more and more imperative. Small high schools allow counselors and advisors to target students as risk and design special programs for them to help them gain the skills and knowledge expected. Research shows that counselors should have no more than 75-80 students for whom they are responsible (High 8). This is not a practical number at schools with thousands of students. Having a manageable number of students allows counselors to effectively assess and follow individual students. Students who either have disabilities or enter high school unprepared are able to have specific schedules designed for them to get them where they need to be, while still being challenged and expected to graduate. Many large schools allow these students to slip through the cracks, taking only entry-level courses before they fail or drop out. For instance, low-income and minority students have historically displayed lower graduation rates. Counselors can better work with these students at small schools. Results from the Rural School and Community Trust show that smaller schools in Georgia, Montana, Texas, and Ohio have reduced the harmful effects of poverty on academic achievement by up to 50% (Howley). Counselors not only interact with the students, but they also serve as a contact to the students' parents which increases the pool of people that they interact with exponentially. This is another reason why it is imperative for counselors to have a limited number of students. Notifying parents of their children's progress extends the possibility for support and guidance from just at school to the home. Kathleen Cotton, in her 1996 publication, provides research that indicates that small schools have a smaller drop out rate than large schools, which may be attributed to better guidance and a sense of belonging provided by counselors (8).

Recent outbursts of violence across the nation leave many feeling

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