Catholic schools have faced enrollment challenges for at least two decades. The staggering numbers of Catholic school closures should compel all stakeholders to reflect on the traditional model of Catholic schools and consider what alternative models could more effectively carry out the mission of the Church. Alternative school models, such as…

Catholic schools have faced enrollment challenges for at least two decades. The staggering numbers of Catholic school closures should compel all stakeholders to reflect on the traditional model of Catholic schools and consider what alternative models could more effectively carry out the mission of the Church. Alternative school models, such as…

Catholic schools have faced enrollment challenges for at least two decades. The staggering numbers of Catholic school closures should compel all stakeholders to reflect on the traditional model of Catholic schools and consider what alternative models could more effectively carry out the mission of the Church. Alternative school models, such as…

Background: After the turn of the 21st century in New York City, mayor Michael Bloomberg launched major initiatives to open new small schools and new charter schools as a central piece of a strategy to transform schooling and produce dramatically better results. Although more than 550 new public schools and charter schools were established in New…

As arguments for the liberalization of education grow more heated, how are we to approach Japanese schools as a community? This paper clarifies the basic concept of the "small schools" theory typified by the METI "Future Classrooms" (functionalist and individualist reorganizations), and organizes the relevant points of debate.…

Despite conditions that would work against a small and rural school in an impoverish rural area of the United States, Fairway Elementary School has managed to excel in its accountability measures. Through interviews with faculty, staff, teachers, students, and parents of children at Fairway Elementary School a model was developed through the lens…

School-community partnerships enhance school districts' capacity to provide effective educational services to their students. In under-resourced schools - such as small-to-mid-sized urban school districts - these partnerships play a crucial role, as resource limitations often inhibit the availability of services traditionally provided by public…

The purpose of this narrative study is to investigate the experiences of schoolteachers at autonomous schools in Hong Kong regarding school climate during the transition to autonomy and remote learning. The study explored the background of the Hong Kong education reform, which aimed to improve education through delegating authority to local…

This case presents how the leadership team and faculty of a small, independent school used design thinking to respond to a competitive marketplace and desire for enrollment growth in the middle grades. The new middle school head came in with a mandate for substantial change and sought to engage all stakeholders in a process of redesign and program…

America has a long history of small-school environments, such as one-room schoolhouses and homeschools. But in recent years, other models have developed, giving students more intimate settings for learning and enabling their families to play a larger role in their schooling. Microschools are a leading example of this growing sector that also…

Microschools, small schools that educate five to 15 students, have been among the most interesting recent developments in the K-12 reform world. Neither homeschooling nor traditional schooling, they exist in a hard-to-classify space between formal and informal learning environments. One of the most prominent microschooling networks, Prenda, was…

At a time when the United States Department of Education openly advocates for neoliberal, free market policies, exploration of these efforts is needed. Investigation into one such effort, charter schools, can help provide insight into complicated questions surrounding the value and impact of these schools, especially on the marginalized…

In a prior study, MDRC researchers found that Small Schools of Choice, a SIG-approved high school reform initiative, markedly and consistently increased high school graduation rates in New York City when it was implemented in 100+ high schools between 2002 and 2008. A four-year follow-up study found that the initiative increased students'…

McCreary School, a rural community school with an average enrolment of 150 students from kindergarten to grade 12, provides a learning environment for a population of diverse students in Turtle River School Division, Manitoba. At the same time, the school incurs significant challenges for creating a school and classroom environment that is…

The COVID-19 pandemic upended American education, throwing schools first into an impromptu version of distance learning in the spring of 2020 followed by a summer beset by uncertainty then delayed and uneven reopenings in the fall. Parents faced tough decisions about their children's education during the pandemic. In July 2020, a poll found that…