Small school reformers should intentionally build professional community, principal leadership, and teacher influence rather than relying on size reduction¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The report recommends that reformers treat small size as only a lever, not a guarantee. Because "reducing size does not automatically lead to such developments, however, schools will need to intentionally focus on creating these key organizational characteristics." The strategy directs school leaders to develop strong teacher professional communities engaged in collective work on instruction, deep principal leadership that initiates and sustains that work, and teacher voice in shaping it, since strength in just one or two areas was not enough in the sample.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Intentional and concerted effort by school leaders and reformers to develop multiple organizational areas simultaneously

Constraints¶

• Findings come from ten CHSRI schools serving predominantly low-income African American and Latino freshmen with below-grade-level incoming achievement; generalization beyond this context is not established

Target Learners¶

• first-time freshmen in small urban high schools

Target Learning Goals¶

• raising freshman course performance and on-track rates through organizational improvement

Affordances¶

• Principal Catalyst Teacher Influence Mechanism

Related Strategies¶

• Build organizational strength over time using staff changes as one of many mechanisms, per the IES School Turnaround Practice Guide recommendations
• States and districts should treat identifying and developing effective principals as a priority given the central importance of school leadership
• Use small school creation as a lever for raising attendance and graduation among at-risk students
• Start simple: relationships-first, low-tech student success systems can suffice in small, tight-knit communities
• System-level strategies to build enabling conditions for Powerful Learning

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• W. David Stevens. (2008). If Small Is Not Enough . . . ? The Characteristics of Successful Small High Schools in Chicago. Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/if-small-not-enough-characteristics-successful-small-high-schools-chicago