This "Informed Educator" examines the use of small learning communities to address the disadvantages of large, comprehensive schools in a cost effective manner. The different types of small learning communities are described, and the research on both small schools and small learning communities is discussed. Lastly, issues that should be addressed…

This article tracks recent developments in the debate about secondary school size. It looks at the growth of the small schools movement in the United States and at initiatives currently underway in the United Kingdom. The article explores various strategies for reconfiguring secondary schools into smaller learning communities or "schools…

Students in a first year Master's degree seminar were asked to find the answer to the question "Do Class and School Size Matter as A Crucial Issue to School Improvement?" The paper the students wrote is based on a review of the literature. The students determined that the question had several issues to be addressed before they could…

During the 1997-98 school year, a large elementary school in the Kansas City area began to research the community learning arrangement within schools. In the early part of the second semester, teachers completed an anonymous survey in which they displayed overwhelming support for the change. Five community learning groups were established and…

There is minimal research on the schools-within-a-school model, however, the research on small schools is abundant. According to the research, when determining how a school should be structured, some guiding questions should be asked and answered before a program is established. Those questions are listed in this paper. The size of the school…

Advisement is a key component of personalized education. Usually, teacher advisors remain with a small group of advisees while they attend a particular school. The anonymity of large schools can be mitigated by creating school learning communities and/or schools-within-schools. Successful examples are profiled. (15 references) (MLH)

Staff at an Ohio high school with 1,200 students decided to create a more welcoming, supportive place for all students; initiate advisory periods; put up student pictureboards; provide career-exploration and social development opportunities, and radiate a steady diet of caring and friendly attention. (MLH)

School buildings of earlier eras represented a variety of views on organization for instruction. Presently only 42 percent of the nations's schools are considered to be in good condition. More needs to be done in relating educational needs to structure. (14 references) (MLF)

In the past 30 years, research has suggested the need for much smaller high schools. In response, some administrators have attempted to subdivide big high schools into smaller entities. This digest reviews recent research on the movement to break up large schools and discusses five types of error common to such attempts--errors of autonomy, size,…

Granby High School in Norfolk, Virginia, is a large comprehensive high school restructured into four smaller academies that allow students a more personal learning environment. Positive growth is shown in test scores, dropout rates, and the narrowing achievement gap between minority and majority students. (MLF)

Describes how a vertical teaching team established a school-within-a-school for grades 1 to 4 at Narcoossee Community School in St. Cloud, Florida. Includes planning, space allocation, curriculum content, and across-grade coordination. Describes benefits to teachers and students. (PKP)

Describes how several small schools have collaborated with the community and shared facilities, such as a former church, a former carriage factory, a medical complex, and a community college. Some of these small schools use social-service agency staff, others create schools-within-schools, and still others become charter schools. (PKP)

This newsletter briefly discusses the question of whether or not large secondary schools suffer from more problems than smaller schools and then examines the possibility of subdividing large schools through use of the "school-within-a-school" approach. Two different variations on the school-within-a-school approach are described, including…

Large school size adversely affects attendance, school climate, student involvement. Dividing large schools into small units creates a learning and teaching context that is more stable, intimate, supportive, interdisciplinary. Kohn-Holweide, a comprehensive German secondary school, groups all students at a given grade level with the same teachers…

Five years into an eight-year study of its high school improvement efforts, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is shifting its strategy for evaluating the $1.3 billion grant program. The foundation's initiative, which is underwriting change efforts in more than 1,800 schools, is the nation's largest privately funded attempt to improve high…