With the financial support of several large foundations and the federal government, creating small schools has become a prominent high school reform strategy in many large American cities. While some research supports this strategy, little research assesses the relative costs of these smaller schools. We use data on over 200 New York City high…

Research for Action is currently engaged in a two-year study, "Going Small: Public/Private Collaboration in Restructuring High School Education in Philadelphia." Funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, "Going Small" examines Philadelphia's approach to creating and supporting small high schools; how the district works…

Background/Context: The contemporary small-school movement traces its roots to the alternative schools of the 1960s and the development of small urban schools in the 1980s. However, the small-school movement has its roots in the progressive movement of the early twentieth century. Although there is a significant amount of research on the early…

As schools continue to strive to meet federal testing requirements, many schools have been looking at ways to improve. During the 1990's many school districts thought they had found the method, tool, or program, with which to accomplish this goal: the "block schedule". This study was a comparison of the teaching strategies and attitudes of…

Between 2002 and 2007, the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative (CHSRI) opened 23 small high schools. Implemented in partnership with Chicago Public Schools (CPS), this initiative aimed to provide populations of low-performing students in under-served areas of the city with high-quality, small high schools. These schools were formed (1) by…

The purpose of this research is to examine the superintendent's role in closing the achievement gap in a culturally diverse rural school district. This topic is especially important and timely as accountability for student and school success appears to have a national focus. The literature within the last 15 years indicates consistent methods of…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there exists a relationship between student achievement in Texas, as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test, and the size of the high school at different socioeconomic levels. This study compared five size categories of Texas high schools to determine which size high…

School districts, and even states, striving to identify optimal school size are confounded more often than not by the conflicting research findings and theoretical arguments presented throughout the literature. Some writers adamantly declare that smaller schools are a "must" if educational opportunity is to be optimized. Others argue that school…

In this study we explore the experiences of new teachers in urban schools at the intersection of three major policy agendas--alternative certification, new teacher retention, and the small schools movement. We examine alternatively certified teachers' perceptions of the rewards and challenges of teaching in small schools, the support neophyte…

Blogging and computerized journaling are effective tools for writing skill development; however, research has not revealed which specific populations of students are aided by blogging or journaling, nor has research revealed the specific writing skills that are most likely to be improved by these practices. The purpose of the study was to discover…

Educational achievement in rural America is one of the country's great overlooked challenges. Rural students achieve below the U.S. average on national tests, and high school dropout rates are higher and college attendance lower than they are in cities and suburbs. When the U.S. Department of Education asks low-achieving schools to be turned…

The "New Century High Schools Initiative" is a program designed to improve large, under-performing high schools by transforming them into small schools with links to community organizations. "New Century High Schools" each have about 400 students; the small size is intended to foster strong relationships between students and…

School reformers hope that converting comprehensive high schools into collections of small schools will produce results similar to those realized in freestanding small schools. Three themes--personalization, professional community, and shared decision making--exemplify the early successes in conversions. But the challenge of sustaining these gains…

The purpose of this study was to analyze data related to rural teachers' use of online communities. Rural teachers are often isolated in their practice and sometimes have difficulty connecting with other teachers with their same assignments or needs due to their professional setting. As Internet availability increases and online communities…

Texas is a national leader in creating early college high schools, an innovative small school model that blends secondary and postsecondary education with intensive supports to increase college readiness and success for underachieving students. The state has 29 early college schools, with more opening in the 2008-2009 academic year, thanks largely…