SMALL SCHOOLS

Studies

Small Schools: Great Strides
Bank Street College of Education | Patricia Wasley
Study of Chicago small schools, and its achieved goals of designing "small, intimate learning communities where students are well known and can be pushed and encouraged by adults who care for and about them," reducing student isolation, reducing student achievement gaps, and encouraging teachers to use talents for student learning."

Jack and the Giant School
New Rules Project | Stacey Mitchell
"Higher graduation rates, less violence, a sense of belonging instead of alienation: the case for small schools is supported by mountains of evidence and a growing number of innovative models."

Dollars and Sense: The Cost Effectiveness of Small Schools
Rural School and Community Trust; Knowledge Works Foundation | Barbara Kent Lawrence
"Summarizes research on the educational and social benefits of small schools and the negative effects of large schools on students, teachers, and members of the community … As the research shows, measuring the cost of education by graduates rather than by all students who go through the system suggests that small schools are a wise investment."

An Overview of Smaller Learning Communities in High Schools
U.S. Department of Education | 2001
"This background paper is designed to help policymakers and school leaders use the new [federal] Smaller Learning Communities program to implement small school strategies in large high schools and within school districts."

Are Small Schools Better? School Size Considerations for Safety and Learning
WestEd | Joan McRobbie | October 2001
"Outlines key research findings and looks at what the research says about why size appears to make a difference, how small is small enough, effective approaches to downsizing, and key barriers. Finally, it offers policy implications and recommendations."

Downsizing Schools in Big Cities
U.S. Department of Education | March 1996
"Reviews the current movement to downsize urban schools to help educators decide whether and why to pursue such a move, and to indicate which models appear most promising."

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org