School district consolidation is one of the most widespread education reforms of the last century, but surprisingly little research has directly investigated its effectiveness. To examine the impact of consolidation on student achievement, this study takes advantage of a policy that requires the consolidation of all Arkansas school districts with…

Demography, economics, concentrated decision making, and politicization, will constitute the future policymaking environment for education. In addition, these conditions are likely to have a direct effect upon educators themselves; they will provoke higher levels of conflict within and among education organizations. (Author/BW)

High School and Beyond data for 175 rural high schools suggest that creating larger institutions will increase student misbehavior. However, for small rural high schools, this increase will border the trivial. Decisions to consolidate schools should rest on criteria other than equity, efficiency, and its effects on student behavior. (RLC)

High School and Beyond Study data for 744 public high schools were used to study the influence of school size on diversity of academic offerings, school social climate, and dropout rate. Potential links between school size and dropout rate were greatly attributable to social climate, especially concerning student participation. (SLD)