School Size, Characteristics, and Outcomes

Abstract

To investigate school size effects for secondary schools, 18 school outcomes, including the average scores on state-developed tests, student retention, suspensions, postschool employment, and college attendance for 293 public secondary schools in New Jersey were regressed on 23 school characteristics, including district socioeconomic status and percentages of students from low-income families; school size and number of schools within each district; and teacher characteristics encompassing salaries, degree status, and years of experience. District socioeconomic status and the percentage of students from low-income families in the school were the most influential and consistent factors related to schooling outcomes. School size was the next most consistent and was negatively related to outcomes. This finding corroborates previous research conducted primarily on public elementary school and suggests that smaller school districts and smaller schools, regardless of socioeconomic status and grade level, may be more efficient at enhancing educational outcomes.