Across American higher education, institutional consolidations are on the rise. In particular, multiple state systems have proposed or completed mergers of regional universities and/or community colleges with the stated goal of increasing efficiency. Despite the high-profile nature of some recent successful and failed consolidations, there is…

With the pool of high school graduates decreasing, national and global competition increasing, and the need to invest in new technologies and approaches growing, many universities and small colleges alike are struggling--not just to thrive, but to survive. In this challenging environment, mergers and consolidations are often viewed as options of…

Arguments for consolidation, which merges schools or districts and centralizes their management, rest primarily on two presumed benefits: (1) fiscal efficiency and (2) higher educational quality. The extent of consolidation varies across states due to their considerable differences in history, geography, population density, and politics. Because…

An important element in considering school finance policies is that households are not passive. Instead they respond to policies with a combination of modified residential choice and political choice of tax levels. The highly stylized decision models of most existing analyses, however, lead to concerns about the policy evaluations. In our general…

Two aging structures were replaced by Central High School in an Indiana steel town. Planning, board and administrator support, and community involvement eased negative attitudes toward the high school closures and resulted in a $36 million school that has unified the city and will serve it for over 50 years. (MLF)

Examined relationship between 1983-84 Nebraska high school enrollments and program breadth and junior-senior high school enrollments and teacher endorsement rates. Concluded rural district reorganization/consolidation resulting in larger secondary grade enrollments would probably result in more course offerings but would not affect percentage of…

This report contains findings and recommendations based on a study conducted to determine the feasibility of merging the Pitt County and Greenville County (North Carolina) school systems. Each school system is described in terms of pupil population patterns, building use, and educational and administrative services; issues related to these…

At present, there is an ongoing re-examination of the practicality of the existence of many small rural community schools. In some states there is a continuing battle over a new round of small school closings, and reconsolidation efforts are underway to once again change or reorganize the educational infrastructure of rural community schools.…

This report presents results of a study of the administrative and governance structure of the California Maritime Academy and the Academy's relation to the California State University as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the State University's Trustees assuming more responsibility for the governance of the Academy. These responsibilities…

Because larger schools offer advantages such as a greater variety of activities, economic efficiency, and a sense of identity in the community, schools are often combined. Beyond these positive effects, however, school consolidation has some negative aspects. These liabilities include less human contact, less input from teachers in…

The pressures of a nation-wide decline in educational funding coupled with the increase in demands for accountability has renewed legislative discussion about the efficacy of school consolidation. This national survey of school superintendents who have experienced school merger, explored the effects of consolidation on school communities,…

Over the last 10 years, declining school enrollments resulted in nearly 30,000 school closures nationwide. Little research has been done, however, on the effects of closing a high school. This report interprets data gathered both before and after the closing of Wheaton Warrenville High School in a large Chicago suburban school district to…

Interviews with school board members and administrators produced a list of suggestions for balancing a budget in hard times. Among these are changing calendars and schedules to reduce heating and cooling costs; sharing personnel; rescheduling some extracurricular activities; and forming cooperative agreements with other districts. (MLF)

A large scale study was undertaken to shed light on the question of school district efficiency, that is, the extent to which school districts are able to increase achievement beyond what would be expected from their families socioeconomic origins. Average scores on state-developed and nationally-standardized tests of third, sixth, and ninth…

Conclusions reached by the Illinois State Board of Education Study, released in May 1985, that small schools are inferior and inefficient, that Illinois has too many schools, and that over half its schools should be closed seem to be an educational step backward. Without linking the two concepts, the study implies that school consolidation will…