Viewpoints Vol. 7

Small by Design:
Resizing America's High Schools

Viewpoints is a multimedia package containing two audio CDs as well as a short accompanying text. The audio CDs provide you with the voices, or viewpoints, of various leaders from the education field who have worked closely with, or observed the work of, small schools. These voices represent the many perspectives and opinions that surround the emerging issue of small schools and provide a general overview of the movement. The booklet contains an essay entitled Big Plans for Small Schools and is intended to complement the interviews with a closer look at small schools facilities, at how some small schools are finding success, and recommendations local and state leaders might consider. This issue of Viewpoints presents an array of issues and perspectives to consider as you explore the option of designing a small high school.

The Issue

Approximately three-quarters of U.S. high school students attend schools of more than one thousand students and more than half of the high schoolers attend schools with more than 1,500 classmates. As the high school age population continues to rise in most areas, we can expect to see about $84 billion dedicated to constructing new schools within the next two years. Many educators, researchers, parents, and students feel as though that money would be best used to break up the large "mega-schools" as well as to create new schools with fewer students. The creation of small schools has been linked to higher student achievement, better discipline, as well as higher attendance and graduation rates. Additional research shows that the students who stand to benefit the most from a small school environment are those who are most in need, namely low-income students. As we continue to examine how to best serve American high school students, it is tempting to seek a single answer that will result in improved learning and teaching. However, the simple reduction of the number of students is unlikely to have the desired effects. There are a variety of issues to consider from a policy as well as an implementation standpoint.

The Booklet: A Guide to Contents

The essay "Big Plans for Small Schools" serves as a companion piece to the CDs. The essay outlines the current opportunity in front of education leaders—to rethink the mega high school and use the dollars earmarked for school facilities to redesign or construct smaller schools. In addition, you will find recommended strategies for local and state level decisionmakers intended to help shape thoughtful and informed decisionmaking. You may find it helpful to read the booklet as an introduction to the topic before listening to the interviews presented on the CDs.

Contents

1. Introduction
   A short review of the literature on the small schools movement
2. How To Do It Right
   Describes the common features of effective small schools as well as examples of two schools that are doing it right
3. Implications for Local Decisionmakers
   Outlines six necessary considerations for local decisionmakers
4. Implications for State-Level Decisionmakers
   Outlines six questions state-level decisionmakers should ask when considering small schools
5. A Few Final Words

Audio CDs: A Guide to Contents

The CDs provide you with various perspectives on the issue of small schools. Education researchers, school leaders, teachers, and program directors share their perspectives on the small schools movement, what it can mean to a school, the advantages and challenges associated with designing a small school, as well as key factors for those considering such a small schools design. (Note: These audio files are not available online. They will be available from the NCREL Catalog.)

CD 1 – Interviews (in order of appearance)

1. Introduction
2. Tom Vander Ark is the Executive Director for Education at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation has dedicated millions of dollars to exploring, creating, and replicating successful small schools. Vander Ark is a former superintendent.
3. Kathleen Cotton is a Senior Researcher at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory located in Portland, Oregon. Cotton authored an influential literature review on small schools and is well versed in current research on small schools.
4. Patricia McNeil is the former Assistant Secretary of Education at the U.S. Department of Education. McNeil was a strong advocate for rethinking high schools in the department. She now serves as a consultant to the Baltimore school district in their efforts to create new small high schools by design.
5. Valerie Lee is a Professor of Education at the University of Michigan. Lee is a well-known researcher on school restructuring and has conducted one of the only large empirical studies of the effectiveness of small high schools on student achievement.
6. Craig Howley is the Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools. Howley has also conducted empirical research on small schools, especially about the effectiveness of traditional small rural schools.
7. Mike Endress is the lead teacher at the Phoenix Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Phoenix is a high school of 130 students and 12 faculty, serving mostly minority students.

CD 2 – Interviews (in order of appearance):

1. Tom Gregory is a Professor of Education at Indiana University. Gregory is a long-time student of alternative schools and oversees a training program for teachers wishing to teach in small high schools.
2. Mary Ann Raywid is Professor Emeritus at Hofstra University. Raywid is also a long-time student of alternative schools who has now turned her attention to the problems that new small high schools face.
3. Valerie Lee (continued)
4. Mark Buesgens is a Minnesota State Representative and an administrator at the Black Hawk Middle School in Minnesota. Buesgens is an observer of the political realities faced by districts both at the state and local level.
5. Tom Vandervest is the principal at Middle High School in Middleton, Wisconsin. Vandervest supervised his district's study of high school size when a group of parents wanted the current high school split into smaller schools.
6. Mike Klonsky is the Co-Director of the Small Schools Workshop at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Klonsky is one of the founders of the small schools movement.

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