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Bright lights, big school
Education is almost constantly evolving.
I’m 24 and graduated from high school in 2002 and a lot has changed just in the six years that I have been out of school. Comparing kindergarten when I was in it in 1989-90 to kindergarten today isn’t even comparing apples to oranges. It’s more like apples to… astronaut ice cream.
A lot of the thinking and philosophies from when I was in school have completely shifted today. If you look at the history of education and the way things were when you were in school you will see a lot of that: ideas that have done a complete 180 over the years. Some have even done a 360: starting at one point, going to the complete opposite and then back to the original idea again.
One of the first ones I think of is inclusion for special education students.
Another one? Big vs. small schools.
Clark County has two districts that seem to be on opposite ends of the school size spectrum.
Springfield has just combined its two high schools to become one although the small schools concept is designed to give the school a more intimate feel.
And Northeastern has two high schools: Kenton Ridge has about 700 kids and Northeastern High School has about 500. Even if the district did combine schools it wouldn’t be terribly big. About 200 high schools in Ohio are larger than 1,200 students.
(NOTE: I know there are some rumors out there that Northeastern intends to go to one high school. The plan is to build two K-12 campuses, each with three school buildings. Northeastern is one of the largest school districts in terms of the land it covers in the state. One campus would make some things much more difficult, particularly transportation.)
So what’s better: Big or small schools? And why?
Let’s take a look at what the experts say and what some of the benefits of each are.
About 100 years ago, high schools were small. Then from the 1920s to the 1970s, there was a shift toward consolidating districts and creating larger schools. Racial integration played a big role in the creation of large high schools too. The thought was that a large school offered a more diverse student population and a broader array of programs.
That’s kind of what’s behind Springfield High School. When you have large schools, you can offer more academic courses, more electives and more clubs and activities simply because you have a larger student population and therefore, more kids to be involved in those things.
Even if Springfield High School reached maximum capacity of 2,400 students, it wouldn’t be close to the largest high school in the country. That’s a Los Angeles high school that has more than 5,000 students.
Classic example: The high school I went to was a moderately sized school with about 1,100 students. Three languages were offered: Spanish, French and German. But most years German was only offered in one section, regardless of how many years you had taken, and I think one year it wasn’t offered at all, because of low interest.
Springfield High School will offer multiple sections of Spanish, French, German, Latin and American Sign Language.
Student achievement rises and the economic achievement gap closes in small schools, according to the Small Schools Project. Discipline problems and dropout rates are decreased because students know the staff better.
That’s the goal of the small schools concept.
Here’s an interesting read on big high schools from Washington Post education reporter Jay Matthews.
There are arguments for both small and big schools. The Springfield small schools concept — which is becoming increasingly popular throughout the state and the country — aims to capture the best of both worlds: because they have so many students they can offer more programs but the schools within the school will hopefully foster closer relationships among staff and students. This College Confidential message board discussion was intriguing. It’s interesting to hear the perspective of students who actually attended large high schools.
What are your experiences with big and small schools? Do you have a preference?
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