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…

This policy brief reviews the arguments for and against school district consolidation and the research regarding consolidation effects, with data specific to school districts in Illinois. A tiered approach to studying consolidation potential is presented as a viable option for policymakers to consider. The following topics are presented: (1)…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has been the main focus of educational debate since we entered the 21st Century. It has left educators in dispute about the reasonableness of federally-ordered reforms and the necessity for holding all students to the same academic standards. The 2001 legislation expanded the federal government's role in public…

Consolidated Regional High Schools (RHSs) have replaced traditional Community High Schools (CHSs) in many nonmetropolitan communities. Consolidation purports to offer cost savings that, in theory, enable nonmetropolitan districts to provide a wider array of instructional opportunities to their students. Nonetheless, critics argue that the benefits…

This phenomenological study of school consolidation is an investigation of how education policy that dictates the reorganization of schools and districts impacts educational choices, learning environments, and school culture. Although quality studies of optimal school size for promoting student achievement and cutting costs have emerged in the…

One of the most remarkable yet least remarked upon accomplishments in American public education in the twentieth century is the success of the school consolidation movement. Between 1930 and 1970, nine out of every ten school districts were eliminated through consolidation. Nearly two-thirds of schools that existed in 1930 were gone by 1970. These…

The consolidation of rural schools in the United States has been a controversial topic for policy-makers, school administrators, and rural communities since the 1800s. At issue in the consolidation movement have been concerns of efficiency, economics, student achievement, school size, and community identity. Throughout the history of schooling in…

Looks at arguments for and against school consolidation which fall within the concerns of economic efficiency and size. Suggests a need to consider the effects of consolidation on the communities served by the schools. (AH)

The recommendations of James B. Conant in the 1950s led to high school consolidation across the country. Although the surviving small schools have weaknesses, they have benefits as well. (JM)

Challenges a 1985 Illinois State Board of Education report inferring that students attending high schools with enrollments below 500 have fewer learning opportunities and (based on achievement test scores) are generally less well-educated than students attending larger schools. Results actually favor smaller high schools despite the trend toward…

There is no basis for the belief that making a school or district bigger is likely to make it better. Educational improvement and economic efficiency are the real challenges. (Author/MLF)

School district reorganization will continue because there are still districts with enrollments below 1,200 pupils, and because of court-ordered measures to achieve desegregation or prevent segregation of schools. (Author/MLF)

The movement toward small school consolidation was based in part on the presumption that academic achievement was lower in small schools, but the results of a study showed that school size was not significantly related to academic achievement in elementary and secondary schools in New Mexico. To determine the relationship of school size and…

Americans tend to value bigger as better. Conventional wisdom over the years has dictated that "too small" schools and school districts could not provide sufficient educational opportunities. Since 1930, the number of school districts has shrunk from 128,000 to less than 16,000. As districts consolidate, parents feel distant from schools and…

This study represents the first attempt to assess the impact of the school consolidation movement on the quality of students' education during the period of greatest consolidation, from 1930 to 1970. Using data from the 1980 U.S. Census, the author looked at one million white males born between 1920 and 1949 to see how characteristics of the…