Sunday, November 06, 2005
High Schools That Are Too Small
The charter school movement and the money from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are driving down the size of high schools. The desire of charter schools to have high schools that serve between 200 and 300 students comes from the issue of being able to find and afford a facility. The Gates Foundation has decided that large high schools are the problem driving large drop-out rates and mediocre education in 9th through 12th grade. But is this trend going in the right direction?
Not according to Diane Ravitch from NYU and the Bookings Institution. She points out in an excellent editorial today in the Washington Post that high schools under 600 kids often cannot offer the educational opportunities that students require. Ms. Ravitch sites one of the few studies available looking at what the most appropriate size of high schools should be which was conducted by Valerie E. Lee of the University of Michigan and Julia B. Smith of Western Michigan University. They found, after reviewing data for nearly 10,000 students in 789 public and private schools, that academic achievement was highest in institutions in the 600 to 900 student range.
I know first hand exactly was Ms. Ravitch is talking about. When I served on the board of the Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School for Public Policy we struggled with meeting the needs of all our students. How do you provide remedial education so that you can catch kids up who are multiple grade-levels behind from where they are supposed to be at the same time that you provide AP classes for advanced students? And how do you afford to provide such a curriculum? The bottom line is that it cannot be done. A school needs a large student body in order to generate the funding stream and attract a skilled faculty in order to meet the needs of all of its students. Ms. Ravitch hit a home run with her points today.
PermaLink | 8:22 AM |
|
Not according to Diane Ravitch from NYU and the Bookings Institution. She points out in an excellent editorial today in the Washington Post that high schools under 600 kids often cannot offer the educational opportunities that students require. Ms. Ravitch sites one of the few studies available looking at what the most appropriate size of high schools should be which was conducted by Valerie E. Lee of the University of Michigan and Julia B. Smith of Western Michigan University. They found, after reviewing data for nearly 10,000 students in 789 public and private schools, that academic achievement was highest in institutions in the 600 to 900 student range.
I know first hand exactly was Ms. Ravitch is talking about. When I served on the board of the Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School for Public Policy we struggled with meeting the needs of all our students. How do you provide remedial education so that you can catch kids up who are multiple grade-levels behind from where they are supposed to be at the same time that you provide AP classes for advanced students? And how do you afford to provide such a curriculum? The bottom line is that it cannot be done. A school needs a large student body in order to generate the funding stream and attract a skilled faculty in order to meet the needs of all of its students. Ms. Ravitch hit a home run with her points today.
PermaLink | 8:22 AM |
| 
