Small Schools Research
The small learning community (SLC) and small school models are school designs that leverage the benefits of a small, personalized and rigorous learning environment to help raise student achievement and prepare students for college.
- SLCs and small schools may be small, autonomous high schools or small learning communities within a larger school campus
- These schools are characterized by several key features including small size (400-800 students), a high level of individual student attention, professional development opportunities, a college preparatory curriculum and family and community involvement
Research strongly suggests that small school environments offer many advantages over large high schools.
- Students enrolled in small schools tend to be more satisfied, more academically productive, more likely to participate in school activities, better behaved and less likely to drop out
- Large high schools – especially those serving low-income students – have disproportionately lower achievement and higher incidences of violence than small schools with similar student populations
Cities across the U.S. are realizing the benefits of SLCs and small schools. Funding and market demand are fueling growth in this market.
- Schools strategically designed to have less than 400 students are in place or starting up in at least 41 states, including New York, Houston, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles
- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $1.2 billion to improve high school education for all students, including the creation of more than 1,500 high-quality high schools
- In fiscal year 2006, federal funding for the Smaller Learning Communities Program totaled $93.5 million
As U.S. student achievement levels continue to fall, the need for education reform grows.
- 30 percent of today's high school students fail to graduate
- Three out of every 10 ninth-grade students will not graduate on time
- Almost 40 percent of students who graduate do not feel adequately prepared for college or work
- Almost half of African American and Hispanic ninth graders leave school without a diploma
- Approximately 70 percent of U.S. high school students attend large high schools with 1,000 or more students
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