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…

Studied the joint influence of school and district size on school performance in 367 schools with 8th grades and 298 schools with 11th grades in Georgia. Findings show substantial cross-level influences of school and district size at 8th grade and weaker influences at 11th grade, with equity effects strong at both grades and with a distinctive…

This paper discusses "constructions" of school size in West Virginia and Ohio and related issues concerned with school and school district consolidation, and the role of education, politics, and globalization. "School size" is not the same as enrollment; grade span and level are important in understandings of size.…

Schools and districts with large number of economically disadvantaged students are likely to have higher average test scores if both are smaller. Larger school sizes, up to a reasonable limit, improve average test scores in affluent communities. Achievement among larger schools in larger districts shows the strongest relationship with…

Previous research in California, Alaska, and West Virginia has suggested that school or school district size may influence student achievement indirectly by mediating the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) on achievement. The Matthew Project is replicating the key analyses of the West Virginia study in four strategically chosen states: Georgia,…

In 1988, a California study by Friedkin and Necochea confirmed an interaction between size and socioeconomic status such that large schools benefited affluent students, whereas small schools benefited impoverished students. This report describes a replication applying the model to West Virginia schools and school districts. In order to control for…

School or district size was found to interact with socioeconomic status to influence student achievement in West Virginia; small schools facilitated the achievement of impoverished students, whereas large schools facilitated the achievement of affluent students. Addresses implications for educational policy and future research into effects of…

Research across seven very different states has shown that as schools get larger, the average achievement among economically disadvantaged students declines. A traditionally strong argument against smaller schools, however, is that they are too expensive. Large consolidated schools with narrowly specialized grade spans are typically offered as…

Professional educators may be behind the times in their thinking about school size. Many educational leaders mistakenly believe that large schools provide better learning environments at less cost than smaller schools. Actually, there are few conclusive before-and-after consolidation studies, consolidation does not seem to save money, and small…

Analysis of data from the 1989 Alaska Statewide Student Testing Program for grades four, six, and eight shows that, given similar school resources, school climate, and student academic background, the negative effect of a disadvantaged background on student achievement was significantly less in small than in medium or large schools. (KS)

This speech is about respect for small things and suggests that schooling could benefit from the care and attention enabled by a smaller scale. Among the points made are that, yes, all children can learn, but that is no big deal. Schooling should contribute to their education, but schooling is far from being identical with education. Learning…

Recent national reports reinforce the growing perception that small schools are good schools. This may seem a revolution or the latest fad in schooling; however, issues of size cannot be captured in universal guidelines. This digest discusses the history of school size dilemmas to demonstrate why this is so. The earliest research literature on…

Studies in New Jersey and California suggest that smaller schools or school districts produce higher aggregate achievement than larger schools or districts, especially in low socioeconomic status (SES) communities. Other studies have found that smaller schools have higher rates of student participation in extracurricular activities, and that…

This paper examines the hypothesis that school size mediates the effect of disadvantaged status on the achievement of individual students. A previous study using national data from the High School and Beyond data set failed to confirm the hypothesis. This study sought to test the hypothesis further by limiting the analysis to students in a single…

Many experts have endorsed small schools as educationally effective, often adding parenthetically that smaller size is especially beneficial for impoverished students. A recent series of studies, the "Matthew Project," bolsters these claims. This digest reviews recent thinking about small school size, describes the Matthew Project…