Describes cultural characteristics of small schools that may produce adverse reactions to expansion of educational opportunities through technological development. Suggests that leaders must share their vision with teachers to achieve staff consensus about methods of obtaining the goal and assure staff of security before technological change will…

Notes that the role of counselors in rural schools, particularly small rural schools, is extremely different from that of guidance counselors in larger urban and suburban schools. Discusses differences as reflections of economic, social, and political realities that influence families, communities, and schools of rural America. (NB)

Describes cooperative budget-stretching ventures of two small school districts in rural Illinois. The Bluffs and Triopia K-12 districts have joint programs in staff development; social work and guidance services; speech therapy; purchasing; and vocational, special, and gifted education. (MLH)

Describes the results of a survey of 108 rural South Dakota high school principals. Reports that, although principals envision themselves as instructional leaders, a majority of the day is spent on general managerial duties and discipline, with principals more concerned about task completion than about individuals or school climate. (Author/DHP)

Describes John Deweys' brief career as a secondary school teacher in Pennsylvania and Vermont from 1879 to 1882. Contains a quote that sums up Dewey's feelings about teaching. (SV)

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…

A review of significant research studies on high school restructuring supports four key findings. Reforms must be connected to instruction; remotely imposed mandates do not improve achievement; restructuring produces modest achievement gains; and high schools with smaller enrollments create a better sense of belonging for students and more…

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…

Economic restructuring, low wages, unemployment, outmigration, and high poverty rates affect rural and small-town schools, which enroll nearly 40 percent of the school-age population. Increasing proportions of rural school enrollments are children at risk and in need of special programs. (SK)

Four major areas (office traffic, the telephone, organization, and discipline) consume much of a school administrator's time. Because principals of small and rural secondary schools do not always have adequate personnel support, planning a daily calendar, setting priorities, and delegating to other administrators and staff are essential…

At the 1990 NASSP Convention, the Smaller Secondary School Committee sponsored a session to encourage administrators of small and rural schools to share their successful activities for improving community relations. Schools can schedule conferences for times convenient to working parents, sponsor community dances, mail school newspapers to the…

Budget cuts in Ontario, particularly in small schools, have resulted in cuts to outdoor programs. Proposes that the Council of Outdoor Educators of Ontario produce a document emphasizing the importance of outdoor education and that members and others interested in the environment write letters to local newspapers advocating environmental…

Reviews school-facility challenges and design principles described in 2000 U.S. Department of Education report on school planning and design. Describes additional school-facility design challenges and planning principles. Describes five critical facility-planning issues for the 21st Century. (Contains 14 references.) (PKP)

Presents several questions and answers about small high schools based on Public Agenda (a nonprofit research organization in New York City) survey of 920 public high school teachers and 801 parents of students enrolled in public high schools. Discusses community issues related to reducing school size. (PKP)

A 1970s research summary concluded that student participation decreases with increasing institutional size and that a school should be sufficiently small to need all of its students for its enterprises. Engaged students attend regularly, whereas marginalized students drift away. K-8 schools should not enroll more than 500 students. (Contains 12…