Editor's Note: This recent post on Medium by 1st-District School Board member, Liz Doerr, is an excellent example of what School Board members ought to be doing. Rather than offer up feel-good bromides about transparency and communication to create the illusion that School Board members care what we have to say, this piece demonstrates that Doerr is stepping up, reaching out, sharing some of her research and inviting stakeholders to do the same. This is what leadership looks like. Let us hope her colleagues see the wisdom of engaging all members of our communities in an open discussion of how to improve our schools. ~ Carol A.O. Wolf
By Liz Doerr
Small or Big School Facilities?
As School Board and community members continue the discussion on Richmond Public School facilities it is important to understand the research and national best practices. I believe that it is our duty to get the most number of kids in the safest, healthiest facilities as quickly as possible. In order to achieve this vision, we must consider budget and time constraints while also prioritizing what is best for the kids.
Below is some research that I put together to better understand these issues. As a future RPS parent, I’m invested on a personal level about the design of our schools. I want to hear from parents, teachers and students about what their visions for improving our schools look like.
- What do you think about small/big facilities?
- How do you feel about school consolidations?
- If we have budget constraints where do you want me to prioritize your tax payer dollars? Facilities? Teachers? Students? Enrichment programs?
Key Themes
Ample evidence exists that students from states with smaller schools obtained higher returns to education and completed more years of schooling (see Elementary and High School Size). Measures can be taken to replicate the benefits of smaller schools in larger school settings by creating smaller units within large facilities (see Norfolk and New York City Case Studies).
Very little of the research on school size has controlled for the factor of class size, and the few studies that do control for both factors have found that to boost student achievement and engagement, class size is more important (see Class Size vs. School Size).
Richmond elementary schools are comparable to peer districts while middle/high schools are on average smaller than peer districts and counties (see Virginia School Sizes)
Oakland’s Small School initiative highlights key benefits and challenges (see Oakland Case Study)
Schools-within-Schools must be designed carefully as they can lead to increased stratification of students by race, academic ability, and socioeconomic status (see Considerations).
Elementary School Size
Source: National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.861.3184&rep=rep1&type=pdf
High School Size
Highest levels of student achievement occurred in medium-sized high-schools, ranging from 600 to 900 students. Schools with fewer than 300 students were found to have lower achievement, all else equal
Source:http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/01623737019003205Source: Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis
Highest levels of student achievement occur in medium-sized high-schools, ranging from 600 to 1200
Source: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED420464.pdf Sponsors — Bruner Foundation, Inc., New York, NY.; New York Community Trust, NY.; Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Inc., New York, NY.; Robin Hood Foundation, New York, NY.
Case Study: Co-Location in New York City
More than ½ of facilities are co-located on campuses with other schools or programs.
Acknowledge that sharing facilities requires collaboration and flexibility.
Developed a Co-Location Handbook provides many best practice examples for effective and efficient management of school campus.
Source: http://schools.nyc.gov/community/campusgov/default.htm
Case Study: Norfolk 700 Student Elementary Schools
Grade level classroom clusters
Larger school enables specialty spaces: elementary science lab, state of the art media center, art and music programs, computer lab, special ed classrooms, project labs, outdoor classrooms
Sources: https://www.norfolk.gov/DocumentCenter/View/20436
https://www.norfolk.gov/DocumentCenter/View/16284
Class Size vs. School Size
Correlations fail to take into account a confounding measure: school size and class size are highly correlated factors, and the negative partial correlation between school size and achievement among middle schools is due to the significant correlation of both of these factors with class size.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics — https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/2000303.pdf
Research Review on Class Sizes:
Smaller classes in the early grades (K-3) can boost student academic achievement;
- A class size of no more than 18 students per teacher is required to produce the greatest benefits;
- A program spanning grades K-3 will produce more benefits than a program that reaches students in only one or two of the primary grades;
- Minority and low-income students show even greater gains when placed in small classes in the primary grades;
- The experience and preparation of teachers is a critical factor in the success or failure of class size reduction programs;
- Reducing class size will have little effect without enough classrooms and well-qualified teachers;
- Supports, such as professional development for teachers and a rigorous curriculum, enhance the effect of reduced class size on academic achievement.
Virginia School Sizes:
Average elementary school size is consistent across peer districts (Newport News and Norfolk)
Richmond middle and high schools are on average smaller than peer districts and counties. Richmond has closed a total of 17 schools since 2005 and has had to reopen two schools after these closings.
Case Study — Oakland Small Schools Initiative
Schools are “safer, calmer and more welcoming.”
College acceptance rates are up. Reading and math scores remain low.
Critics, as well as some supporters, say much of the initial reform effort was consumed by structural and organizational changes, rather than more deeply rooted educational challenges. They note many of Oakland’s new schools are grappling with the same old problems: high teacher and principal turnover and limited resources for students — and teachers — who need extra support.
Faced with an increasingly tight and uncertain budget, some Oakland school district officials have publicly contemplated the possibility of closing or merging more schools.
“We may need to look at whether we are able to maintain the tiny schools that we are maintaining,” interim superintendent Roberta Mayor said at an April 22 school board meeting.
Source: Stanford Education Review: https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/news/articles/899
Considerations
“Schools-within-Schools yield tradeoffs and there is a difference between theory and reality…If school officials aren’t careful, the approach led to increased stratification of students by race, academic ability, and socioeconomic status.”
Source: https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/09/19/04small.h27.html
Schools-within-Schools must be “full-model” — “schools where all students and most faculty are members of only one of several smaller instructional units. This full-model SWS structure is distinguished from a more common format, where large high schools offer only one or two small schools, and most students remain in the regular high school program.”
Source: Stanford Education Review: https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/news/articles/899
Considerations
“Schools-within-Schools yield tradeoffs and there is a difference between theory and reality…If school officials aren’t careful, the approach led to increased stratification of students by race, academic ability, and socioeconomic status.”
Source: https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/09/19/04small.h27.html
Schools-within-Schools must be “full-model” — “schools where all students and most faculty are members of only one of several smaller instructional units. This full-model SWS structure is distinguished from a more common format, where large high schools offer only one or two small schools, and most students remain in the regular high school program.”
“Partial-model SWS structures can develop between a ‘special’ sub-unit and the remainder of the school, mostly around differential resource allocation.”
Source: http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/1882.pdf
Education
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