The primary objective of this study was to examine revenue generation and resource allocation and deployment practices associated with the implementation of three smaller learning communities (SLC) project high schools in a single school district. The study used a variation of Levin and McEwan's (2001) ingredients approach. District- and…

America's urban high schools are having trouble making sophomores, resulting in freshmen classes bulging with students repeating a grade. Research shows that these students are at high risk of failure and dropout. Urban districts have begun to respond to the notable "freshmen bulge" through school restructuring. This mixed-methods study…

Previous studies of the connection between school enrollment size and student achievement use cross-sectional econometric models and thus do not account for unobserved heterogeneity across schools. To address this concern, I utilize school-level panel data, and generate first-differences estimates of the effect of school size on achievement.…

Major initiatives in New York City and Chicago to close unsuccessful schools and create small schools in their wake are stirring criticism from some community activists, local politicians, and others. Critics charge that the growing scale of the efforts is producing negative ripple effects on other schools in these cities. In Chicago, the chief…

This paper tests for the impact of school size, measured by number of pupils, on academic performance at age 16 controlling for exam scores 2 years earlier. Schools of more than at the most 600 pupils tend to achieve poorer public exam results in the long run and a higher proportion fail to gain any qualifications. School size affects attendance…

Rural and small schools face difficult financial times. Given long-term economic decline and eroding tax bases in rural areas, many rural and small schools may need supplemental funding just to preserve essential programs and services. A list of fundraising strategies provides options that should be feasible whatever the level of local expertise.…

This paper examines the relationship between school size and funding levels in North Carolina secondary schools. Data included information from 94 secondary schools concerning classes offered, school enrollment and staffing, school size and location, funding levels, and student achievement in eight selected subjects; principal and teacher…

The traditional two-teacher school in Queensland is high-set, providing two classrooms, services room, and verandah upstairs, and a concreted area underneath. This plan re-arranges the traditional two-teacher school to fit a linear multiple-area plan (which can, with minor variations, be adapted to up to a four-teacher school). The plan…

Author examined the advantages of the small school and contrasted them with an evaluation of larger schools. (RK)

Discusses the relationship between school size and per-pupil educational costs and describes a number of possibilities for using state aid formulas to encourage school districts to operate schools of optimal size. Three possible approaches are discussed, including penalty factors, incentive payments, and a combination of penalties and incentives.…

Article discusses a career development program which was planned and implemented in a small rural high school. (Author)

Students in about 100 schools in 10 states attend classes 4 days a week, for all or part of the school year. A growing number of rural schools, faced with declining enrollments and diminishing state aid, are experimenting with this schedule. Benefits of the schedule include lower energy and transportation costs and lower absenteeism among students…

The Registration Involving Parents Program was instituted at Hill City High School, Kansas to: (1) keep parents informed of academic goals of students; (2) allow teachers to be more directly involved in the goal-setting of students; (3) reduce class schedule changes after the beginning of the school year; (4) force students to justify choices and…

This document contains the full text of the conference keynote address and abstracts of conference papers. The keynote address--"Excellence in Rural Education: Our Heritage and Our Future," by Duane M. Nielsen--outlines: (1) demographic changes in rural America in the 1970s and 1980s; (2) the challenges facing rural education due to increasing…

A questionnaire responded to by 34 randomly selected Illinois school districts with high school enrollments under 500 provided information contradicting an Illinois State Board of Education report that cast doubt on the educational effectiveness of smaller schools. The questionnaire's first section sought information about each district's…