Many Benefits to Smaller Schools

Having fewer students per school is one of only three inputs found to have a positive impact on educational achievement, according to a statistical analysis reported in the latest issue of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Report Card on American Education. The ALEC study, published last October, is the latest in a series of reports on the benefits of smaller schools that are encouraging state policymakers to take a closer look at school size.

During the past half century, the average school size has increased from just over 100 students to well over 600, with many high schools now enrolling more than 1,000 students. School size is continuing to increase ... but that growth is not being driven by research showing benefits to having larger schools, according to a study published last September by KnowledgeWorks Foundation, called Dollars and Sense: The Cost-Effectiveness of Small Schools.

What drives the creation of larger schools, the report suggests, are the following state policies:

• minimum enrollment qualifications for state funding of school facilities;

• excessive acreage requirements, which tend to push officials to consolidate smaller schools;

• policies that discourage renovation and maintenance of older schools by triggering new construction when renovation costs exceed a certain level.

State policy is sometimes contradictory. For example, while North Carolina’s facilities planning guidelines recommend a minimum school size of 450 students, the same publication lists smaller school sizes for improved safety and violence reduction: elementary, 300-400; middle, 300-600; and high school, 400-800.

The KnowledgeWorks report suggests developing smaller schools is a wise investment when the cost per graduate is taken into account. The report identifies educational and social benefits of small schools and contrasts these with the negative effects large schools have on students, teachers, and members of the community.

“Many decision-makers ... are reluctant to embrace small schools for fear that they are not economical and place an unnecessarily heavy burden on taxpayers,” note the report’s authors. However, “there are many economic arguments in support of small schools and ... it is fiscally responsible to spend school construction dollars on small school facilities.”

Less Violence, More Participation, Higher Grades

Studies have shown small schools can operate more flexibly and more responsively than large schools because there is less formal bureaucracy. In addition, students and teachers in small schools know each other better, there are higher levels of teacher satisfaction, and community members are more involved with the schools.

“There is less violence in small schools, less vandalism, a heightened sense of belonging, and better attendance,” the KnowledgeWorks report states. “Students earn higher grade point averages, and more participate in extracurricular activities.”

One of the most important characteristics of small schools is that their dropout rates tend to be lower than those for large schools. Besides having a profound effect on the lives of the students, this lower dropout rate has a profound effect on the cost-effectiveness of small versus large schools. While cost per student was higher at smaller high schools, researchers at New York University’s Institute for Education and Social Policy showed that the cost per graduate at the smaller schools was slightly lower than the per-graduate cost at larger schools.

Other researchers also have reported higher graduation rates in smaller schools, including those serving poor students, and higher percentages of graduates going on to post-secondary education.

“Large schools are expensive to individuals, their communities, and the nation because there are many hidden costs,” the report concludes. It urges communities and policymakers to “treasure their small schools” and protect them with sound policies and financial support.

Grade Spans

The “Dollars and Sense” report also points out that a 500-student school with grades K-8 is not the same “size” as a school with 500 students in grades 3-4. The first is a “small” school with 56 students per grade; the second is a “large” school with 250 students per grade.

“Including a wider rather than narrower grade span configuration is a better way to reap the advantages of small schools,” argue the report’s authors, noting research has identified “social and academic liabilities” to having narrow grade spans.

George A. Clowes is managing editor of School Reform News, a monthly publication of The Heartland Institute.
http://www.heartland.org

For more information ...

Dollars and Sense: The Cost-Effectiveness of Small Schools. Even though people recognize and appreciate the benefits of small schools, too many of them think the cost of such schools is prohibitive. (KnowledgeWorks Foundation, September 2002, 44pp).

Go to http://www.heartland.org and use PolicyBot to search for document #10902.