Academic Benefits to Students: Large Scale Research Findings and Sources for Student Achievement Benefits of Small Schools

The studies and papers cited below strongly indicate that creating smaller, more personal, learner-centered school environments can result in improved academic achievement for students. Brief summaries of selected reports, and their sources, are listed on this page.

• Small size is a condition for "transforming schools into communities of learners."
• Personal relationships, student participation, academic performance, and intellectual orientation are stronger in small schools.

Black, Susan. (1996) Size Matters. Executive Educator 1996, Apr v18 n4 p31-33; ERIC # EJ522752

• In a study of 13,600 urban, suburban, and rural schools in Georgia, Montana, Ohio, and Texas, the benefits of small schools include:
• Higher achievement;
• Lower achievement gaps across races;
• Lower dropout rates;
• Lower student suspension rates;
• Less drug abuse
• Less vandalism

Additional findings:

• Academic performance of students with disadvantaged socio-economic status is better than in large schools;
• Academic performance of students in lower socio-economic category declines as the population of schools increase;
• Negative effects of poverty on student achievement increase as population of schools increase.

School Size, Poverty, and Student Achievement (courtesy of The Rural School and Community Trust). Also: Howley, Craig B. & Bickel, Robert. (2000) Reducing Effects of Poverty on Achievement: 4 State Study in American School Board Journal

• In a study of 5,209 students, socio-economic status (SES) affected student achievement less in small schools (enrollment under 500 students) than larger schools.

Howley, Craig; Huang, Gary (July 1991) Extracurricular Participation and Achievement: School Size as Possible Mediator of SES Influence Among Individual Students.
ERIC# ED 336247

In a study of 34 randomly selected Illinois school districts with high school enrollments under 500:

• Course offerings exceeded state mandates;
• The average dropout rate was less than half the state average;
• ACT Composite scores were above average in 23 sample schools;
• Per-pupil expenditures were below the state average, but salaries were as well;
• Students participated in many more extracurricular activities;
• 85.3% of 1981 graduates were continuing their education or in the workforce.

Rogers, Robert G. (Feb. 1987) Is Bigger Better? Fact of Fad Concerning School District Organization. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of School Administrators (New Orleans, LA, February 20 - 23, 1987)
ERIC# ED 281271 .

• Poor students achieve better in small-sized schools and districts.
• Negative effects of large schools and districts on poor student increase significantly as grade levels increase

Howley, Craig B. (1996). Sizing Up Schooling: A West Virginia Analysis and Critique. Dissertation. ERIC# ED ED396880

In a study on the differences in educational outcomes, except mathematics, for students from small (under 300 students), average (400 - 700 students), and large (900 - 1,200 students) rural high schools, and among 1,084 students from small urban, suburban, and rural high schools:

• The mean scores were highest in all measures of academic outcomes except mathematics for students enrolled in the small schools.

McIntire, Walter G. (1989). Academic Achievement in AmERICa's Small Schools: Data from High School and Beyond. Education and the Changing Rural Community: Anticipating the 21st Century. Proceedings of the 1989 ACRES/NRSSC Symposium (see RC 017 257). Also: Academic Achievement in America's Small Schools: Data from High School and Beyond, Walter G. McIntire and Scott F. Marion (1989). To obtain a copy: Phi Delta Kappa International magazine, "Big Schools, Small Schools: What's Best for Students?" (1996), 232 pages, 22 articles Request product code HTBSSS from the Order Dept., Phi Delta Kappa International, Inc., 408 N. Union St., P.O. Box 789, Bloomington, IN 47402-0789. Ph. 800/766-1156 or 812/339-1156. Fax 812/339-0018.

• Across the nation, in urban, suburban, and rural schools of fewer than 300 students, African American students scored higher on the SAT test than their large-school counterparts.

American Legislative Exchange Council Small School Study. (1993)

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