Describes several small technology-based high schools that offer a personalized approach to education through the use of projects, digital portfolios, exhibitions, and internships. (PKP)

Describes the processes of creating two small elementary schools: Central Park East Elementary School in New York City and Mission Hill Elementary School in Boston. Describes what successful schools have in common. (PKP)

The citizens of Norfolk, Virginia, challenged educators to preserve a large, comprehensive high school while implementing a small-school concept. Staff responded by establishing four academies within the larger school that conveyed the feeling of smallness. Administration is decentralized, and special classes and computer labs are held outside the…

Describes extent of out-of-field teaching and negative impact on teachers and students. Suggests that out-of-field teaching is the result not of an inadequate supply of qualified teachers, but of expedient assignment decisions by school principals. (PKP)

Today's schools are too big. If smaller schools and classroom settings are beneficial and less costly, why do we continue to operate and build large schools? Perhaps committing to smaller schools would require us to rethink the leadership, management, and organization theories that dominate school administration. Authority should be vested in…

Small schools (300 to 400 students) offer a real panacea for America's educational ills. New York City's celebrated Central Park East schools lack separate buildings, but have the climate and culture for developing democratic habits of heart and mind. Smallness can facilitate governance, respect, simplicity, safety, parent involvement,…

The trend toward bigger schools has been accompanied by a huge increase in overall youth misconduct, as measured by homicides, suicides, and arrest rates, and by declining achievement test scores. Students in smaller schools have fewer, but more intense and enduring relationships with adults in their school life. Modest ameliorative proposals are…

Oasis High is a small, effective, alternative school that helps high-risk students beat the odds. Staff actively nurture students' growth. Success depends on student ownership, a family atmosphere, a nontraditional school building, effective counseling, a well-equipped computer lab, on-site day care, varied teaching methods, and a noncoercive…

Discusses national survey of high school teachers and parents of high school students. Finds that while teachers and parents associate small schools with certain positive effects such as low dropout rates and high parent involvement, educators planning to reduce school size must resolve several parent and teacher concerns such as class size. (PKP)

Discusses studies that find small secondary schools are safer than large schools; offers three reasons for these findings: students are visible, there is a professional community of teachers, and small schools have a clear sense of purpose. Supports reasons with examples from several small secondary schools. (PKP)

A large Baltimore high school has shown how personalizing relationships and focusing the curriculum can turn around an unsafe school and create a climate conducive to learning. The school adopted the Talent Development model, which created six smaller units or academies. Instead of suspending or transferring ill-behaved students, Patterson…

Deborah Meier, coprincipal of Central Park East Secondary School in New York City, never uses "alternative" to describe her school, because that term implies that traditional schooling is acceptable. Creating smaller schools, granting parental choice, hiring intellectually curious teachers, and discussing what it means to be educated are…

The Executive Director, Education, for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, describes several shortcomings of large comprehensive high schools. Argues that small schools, be they public, private, or charter, offer a viable alternative to the problems of large schools if they have right essentials such as strong leadership and autonomy.…

From leading garden tours to planning a visit for Japanese teachers and participating in community theater, middle schoolers at Fort Worth's Applied Learning Academy learn academic content by working on community projects. Students' writing skills soared as they developed, edited, and field-tested brochures and trail-guide maps for their botanical…