School size and effectiveness: Policy implications

Abstract

For the first 75 years of this century, the only “good” schools were considered to be large. Today the buzz word is small. Educators who still promote the idea of biggest, largest, or strongest are living in the post-sputnik era, when for national pride we had to be number one. Today small is related to school effectiveness, community and school identity, and individual fullfillment and participation. Big corresponds with school inefficiency, institutional bureaucracy, and personal loneliness.