Synthesis of Research / Small Schools: A Reform That Works 6

ABSTRACT : This synthesis of the research on the benefits of small schools or schools-within-schools responds to three questions: What do we know about small schools? What is there to recommend them? And Can we explain their track record? The author cites a number of large-scale local, state, and national studies that now supplement earlier case studies. The findings are strikingly consistent, Raywid concludes, in terms of the positive effects of small schools on such things as student achievement, attendance, involvement, behavior, and college admission, with benefits particularly notable for disadvantaged and minority students. Small schools have provided models of effective secondary education, including programs for students who do not speak English. Raywid reports that research links the success of small schools to three key ingredients: small size; unconventional organizational structure; and a communitylike, rather than a bureaucratic, setting. She explains how the overarching characteristic of small size accommodates many of the changes recommended by the research on effective schools, and concludes by endoring small schools as perhaps our most promising single strategy for realizing a number of the goals of education reform. 56

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