Social Benefits to Students

What are the social benefits to students within small schools? How does a smaller school environment affect the rates of dropout, participation in school activities, and overall behavior? This page provides a short compendium of findings and sources for studies that have explored this important issue.

Research Findings and Sources for Student Social Development Benefits of Small Schools

• Students of all abilities, at all schools levels and in all settings, demonstrate better attitudes, behavior, and participation in smaller size schools.
  Northwest Regional Lab (March 2000). Big Learning at Small Schools .
• Students in small schools display more social concern, and dropout rates are reduced.
  Raywid, Mary Anne (1997). Small Schools - A Reform That Works. An Occasional Paper of the Small Schools Coalition.
  ERIC# ED414099
• Small schools are beneficial for the entire school community, and particularly for disadvantaged youth, who are helped by the attention and sense of belonging that small schools promote.
  Raywid, Mary Anne (March 1996). Downsizing Schools in Big Cities.
  Eric Digest No. 112
  ERIC# ED393958
• Students in smaller schools have fewer, but more intense and enduring, relationships with adults in their school life. Wynne, Edward A. (1995). The Virtues of Intimacy in Education. Educational Leadership 1995, Nov. v53 n3 p53-54
  ERIC# EJ514702
• When a school is small enough, students can be trusted with responsibility, and an individualized program makes sense. Control is not a central issue, and every student and teacher has a say in how the school is run.
  Gregory, Tom (1992). Small Is Too Big: Achieving a Critical Anti-Mass in the High School.
  ERIC# ED361159
• Students in small high schools participate in co-curricular activities more, and are less alienated than students in large schools.
  Huling, Leslie. (Oct. 1980) How School Size Affects Student Participation, Alienation. NASSP Bulletin 1980, Oct. v64 n438 p13-18
  ERIC# EJ232068
• Students in small schools feel a greater obligation to participate in school activities.
  Grabe, Mark (March 1975). Big School, Small School: Impact of the High School Environment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (Washington, D.C.).
  ERIC# ED106685
• Students in small high schools demonstrate higher levels of participation in student government, extracurricular activities, leadership roles and responsibility, use of the variety of courses offered, and involvement in community life.
  Barker, Roger G. (1962) Big School - Small School: Studies of the Effects of High School Size Upon the Behavior and Experiences of Students.
  ERIC# ED001132