Evidence that smaller schools do not improve student achievement

Phi Delta Kappan

Volumn 88, Issue 4, 2006, Pages 300-303

  Wainer, Howard ^a   Zwerling, Harris L ^b  

^a NATIONAL BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS   (United States)

^b PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 33846290353     PISSN: 00317217     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/003172170608800411     Document Type: Review

References (11)

1. See, for example, Faith Dunn, "Choosing Smallness," in Jonathan R. Sher, ed., Education in Rural America: A Reassessment of Conventional Wisdom (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1977), pp. 123-47;
2. Weldon Beckner, The Case for the Smaller School (Bloomington, Ind.: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation, 1983);
3. Craig B. Howley, "Synthesis of the Effects of School and District Size: What Research Says About Achievement in Small Schools and School Districts," Journal of Rural and Small Schools, vol. 4, 1989, pp. 2-12;
4. Robert L. Larson, "Small Is Beautiful: Innovation from the Inside Out," Phi Delta Kappan, March 1991, pp. 550-54;
5. Gene I. Maeroff, "To Improve Schools, Reduce Their Size," College Board News, vol. 20, 1992, p. 3;
6. and William J. Fowler, Jr., "School Size and Student Outcomes," in Benjamin Levin, William J. Fowler, Jr., and Herbert J. Walberg, eds., Advances in Education Productivity: Vol. 5 - Organizational Influences on Productivity (Greenwich, Conn.: JAI Press, 1995), pp. 3-25.
7. PSSA scores can be accessed at www.pde.state.pa.us/a_and_t.
8. Enrollment data were obtained directly from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The authors are indebted to Rosanne Cramer and Richard Hruska for their assistance.
9. Bob Geballe, "Bill Gates' Guinea Pigs," Seattle Weekly, 20 July 2005, pp. 1-9.
10. Lynn Thompson, "School Size: Is Smaller Really Better?," Seattle Times, 26 October 2005, available at http://seattletimes. nwsource.com.
11. Alfred S. Posamentier, "How to Assess a School," New York Times, 7 November 2005, p. A-19.