This report presents the findings of a study conducted by the Center for Research in Educational Policy (CREP) on the second year of implementation of the Small Schools Initiative at the Manual High School Complex. The major goal of this research was to evaluate perceived progress and outcomes at all three high schools. The design and methodology…

Indicators of school-level achievement, such as the percentage of students who are proficient in a particular content area, are subject to random year-to-year variation in much the same way that the results of an opinion poll will vary from one random sample to another. This random variation, which is more pronounced for a small school, should be…

This booklet addresses three questions about small schools, commonly posed by skeptics: "What do we really know about small schools?" What is there to recommend them?" and "Can we explain their track record?" With regard to the first question, large-scale studies compared the records of 300 students in 8 small New York…

Conventional wisdom holds that there are gender-based differences in the practices of men and women in leadership positions. Stereotypically, men are seen as using a direct "command and control" style of leadership while women are assumed to be more collegial and collaborative. A review of the literature on differences in male and female…

On September 10, 1996, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada) announced that public consultation on education reform would begin on September 16. Just prior to the first hearing, the government circulated a document entitled "Structuring the Education System: A Public Consultation Paper for Educational Change in Newfoundland and…

The application of information and communication technologies to education can extend small schools by linking them to many other institutions and making them, in effect, large schools. It is becoming increasingly difficult to define a school's size in terms of the number of students who attend it in person. The definition of whether a school is…

This theme issue of the newsletter SEDLetter contains articles about the challenges facing rural youth, communities, and schools, and the ways that rural schools are meeting those challenges. "When Rural Traditions Really Count" (Ullik Rouk) outlines the rural situation with regard to adolescent substance abuse, youth gangs, teen pregnancy,…

This transcript reproduces a Department of Education/College Board sponsored discussion on ways to expand advanced placement (AP) opportunities in high schools. The deliberations opened with a presentation by Phil Chavez, an assistant principal in San Antonio, Texas, who outlined the genesis and development of the AP program in his predominantly…

In multigrade instruction, children of at least a 2-year grade span and diverse ability levels are grouped in a single classroom and share experiences involving intellectual, academic, and social skills. "The Multigrade Classroom" is a seven-book series that provides an overview of current research on multigrade instruction, identifies…

Written by major players in the small schools movement, this collection of essays points to the ways that school restructuring strategies connect to the ongoing pursuit of social justice. Activists, scholars, practitioners, and theorists review how and why small schools work for students, provide thick descriptions of the small schools strategy in…

An educational researcher describes and reflects on a qualitative research project she conducted, focusing on her positioning, neutrality, and objectivity throughout the research process and during subsequent data analysis. The research took place in a K-12 school in a remote rural New Zealand community inhabited by Maori, 1970s…

Previous studies found that the small size of schools or school districts mitigated the negative influence of poverty on academic achievement in California, Alaska, and West Virginia. The Matthew Project extends this research in four additional states selected to provide varied settings. Montana has a remarkable number of small schools and small…

Previous studies found that the small size of schools or school districts mitigated the negative influence of poverty on academic achievement in California, Alaska, and West Virginia. The Matthew Project extends this research in four additional states selected to provide varied settings. Ohio is a very diverse, urbanized state with a large…

This book compiles articles, interviews, student writings, and other offerings first published in SKOLE, the Journal of Alternative Education, 1995-99. Sections include: (1) talking about education (seven interviews on the foundations of learning, the Modern School movement, educational philosophy at the Albany Free School, life at a Japanese free…

This report focuses on gifted and talented education in six rural schools. An introduction summarizes a 1999 national assessment of rural gifted education and points out that the standards movement may hinder development of both effective rural schools and gifted programming. Of the six schools profiled, two were founded especially for gifted and…