If economies of scale are important in secondary education, a greater degree of resource specialization and curriculum comprehensiveness should occur in larger secondary schools. Using New York State schools data, this study shows that scale economy sources are exhausted at relatively small enrollment levels, allowing only trivial gains in…

While existing research on school and school district size is not as conclusive as policymakers might wish, it does point toward several new policy directions. Some relevant findings and recommendations are: (1) a larger school or district enrollment does not guarantee desirable results; (2) recommended school sizes have been declining over time,…

Enrollment levels of high schools are positively related to the number of courses offered. The most common way to expand educational opportunities in communities served by small high schools is to increase enrollment, usually by means of consolidation. Size, however, is not always the predictor of course offerings, as some relatively small schools…

This paper explores the impact of school district organizational structure on the productivity of educational systems and describes the implementation in New York State of a collaborative study process involving school district reorganization. The case for organizing schools or districts into larger units is typically made on either efficiency or…

Relationships between high school structural characteristics and curricular offerings are examined using data from the High School and Beyond Survey, with an emphasis on school size. Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that effects of size are differentiated within high schools. Implications for equality of education are discussed. (SLD)

The persistent net loss of young people from rural areas has potentially contradictory implications for educational policy. Believing that youth migration to urban areas is inevitable, one school board might feel obligated to prepare students for urban jobs. Another board might view such actions as community suicide and attempt to slow…

This paper examines the degree to which high-school course offerings are unequally distributed across schools, paying attention to relationships between school size and the incidence of new course titles in various curriculum areas. The inquiry is based on the presumption that economies of scale play a role in educational opportunity. The study is…

This review explores the debate on optimal school size and discusses policy options available to states for expanding curricular offerings in small rural schools. Policy options are divided into three broad categories: traditional, modified traditional, and nontraditional. The report explores the possibilities available under each approach,…

This report examines how the curricular offerings of large secondary schools compare with the curricular offerings of small secondary schools. The study is motivated by theories of production which hold that economies are available in large compared to small schools; it is pointed out, however, that larger schools may not take advantage of…