Students In Small Schools Research Articles

Developing Teachers’ Learning Management Competency through the Process of Coaching and Mentoring to Enhance the English Proficiency of Primary School Students in Small Schools in Soeng Sang District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand

This research has two main objectives: 1) to develop the coaching and mentoring process to improve teachers' learning management competence that will improve students' English proficiency and 2) to study the results of this coaching and mentoring process. The research process was divided into two phases: the first phase was the development of the orientation and tutoring process to improve the learning management competence of teachers. The research instrument was the evaluation form of the coaching and mentoring process called "TOCM Process" and the second phase was the study of the coaching and mentoring process to improve the learning management competence of teachers. This research was carried out in four main stages that were planning, action, observation and reflection. The target group for this research was five small schools in Soengsang District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. The results of the evaluation of the suitability and feasibility of the TOCM Process were considered adequate and feasible at a high level.

Current policy and practice concerning multigrade teaching in Thailand

This study explored current policy and practice concerning multigrade teaching (MGT) and proposed policy options for improving the quality of MGT in Thailand. The study consisted of: 1) a review of policy documents and research about MGT; and 2) a qualitative study collecting data through classroom observations, individual interviews, and focus group discussions in four small schools with best practice in MGT. The qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that there was no national policy on MGT in Thailand. MGT existed only as one strategy to improve the education quality of small schools. There was some MGT training for in-service teachers, but no MGT course for pre-service teachers. The teachers, school administrators, school boards, parents, and students had a good understanding and awareness of MGT in promoting quality education for students in small schools. They gradually developed positive attitudes toward MGT from their appreciation of the increased quality of school and student learning achievement. The stakeholders’ understanding and awareness of MGT were key factors for the successful implementation of MGT in small schools. A school administrator was regarded as a key person leading to best practice in MGT. Based on the results of this study, continual development is urged regarding MGT and the inclusion of MGT in the national policy and pre-service teacher education of Thailand.

Are all schools created equal? Learning environments in small and large public high schools in New York City

Over the past two decades, high school reform has been characterized by a belief that “smaller is better.” Much of the expected academic benefit from attending small schools has been credited to their better learning environments. There is little empirical support for this claim, however, and the existing research fails to provide causal evidence. Moreover, recent studies in New York City have shown that students attending newly created small schools do better academically relative to students attending both large and older established small schools. Are these differences in academic outcomes also mirrored by differences in learning environments? In this paper, we address this question by exploring the impact of attending large compared to small high schools on students’ learning environments, considering the differences between small high schools formed in two different eras with different missions and resources. We use a unique data set of school and student-level data from New York City public high school students entering 9th grade in 2008–09 and 2009–10 to examine students’ attitudes about school learning environments along three dimensions: interpersonal relationships, academic expectations and support, and social behavior and safety. While OLS results show that students attending small schools (new and old) perceive better learning environments, instrumenting for selection into these schools challenges those results. In general, it is not clear that small schools provide better learning environments than large schools. Our results challenge the conventional wisdom that the higher academic performance of students in small schools is driven by a better learning environment.

Who Takes AP Economics?

This paper provides an analysis of who takes Advanced Placement (AP) Economics. Using two years of administrative data on all high school students who take a course to satisfy Georgia’s graduation requirement in economics, we find large differences in enrollment in AP Economics across groups. Specifically, African-American and Hispanic students and students from low-income backgrounds are about half as likely to be enrolled in AP Economics as other students. However, once we control for prior academic achievement in Geometry, African-American and Hispanic students are overrepresented relative to whites and the difference between low income and other students is reduced significantly. Female students are overrepresented relative to males, and Asian students are overrepresented relative to whites — this latter effect is large. African-American, Hispanic, and especially Asian students are more likely to attend high schools that offer AP Economics. Students living outside of metropolitan Atlanta and students in smaller schools have much less access to AP Economics.

Competitive Foods in Schools: Availability and Purchasing in Predominately Rural Small and Large High Schools

ObjectivesSchools have an important role to play in obesity prevention, but little is known about the food environment in small, predominately rural schools. The primary purpose of this study was to compare the availability and student purchasing of foods sold outside of the reimbursable meals program through à la carte or vending (ie, competitive foods) in small (n=7) and large (n=6) Kansas high schools. MethodsA cross-sectional observational study design was used to capture the number of à la carte and vending items available and purchased, and the fat and energy content of all available and purchased items on a single school day between January and May 2005. ResultsSmall schools had significantly fewer vending machines than large schools (median 3.0 [range 2.0 to 5.0] vs 6.5 [range 4.0 to 8.0], P<0.01]. Vending and à la carte items at small schools contained a median of 2.3 fewer fat grams per item (P≤0.05), whereas vending products contained a median of 25 kcal fewer per item (P≤0.05) than at large schools. Significantly less fat (median −15.4 g/student) and less energy (median −306.8 kcal/student) were purchased per student from all competitive food sources and from à la carte (median −12.9 g fat and −323.3 kcal/student) by students in small schools compared to students in large schools (P≤0.05). ConclusionsThe findings, which highlight less availability and lower energy content from competitive foods at small compared to large schools, have implications for understanding how small schools support their foodservice programs with limited dependence on competitive foods and the influence that food and nutrition professionals can have on school environments by providing more oversight into the nutritional quality of foods available.

The Impact of High School Size on Math Achievement and Dropout Rate

The study explores the ways in which school size influences two important student outcomes commonly used in school effects research: growth in mathematics achievement and dropout rate. Past research suggests that smaller high schools can lead to increased benefits for students. In this study, multilevel analytic models of the first two waves of the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) of 2002 are used to better understand mediating factors in the small school size effect. Results support the benefits of smaller schools: students in smaller schools were less likely to drop out than their counterparts in large high schools. The relationship between high school size and math gain, however, is curvilinear; students attending very small (&lt; 674) or very large (&gt; 2592) schools have the largest math gains, while students in schools with intermediate enrollment sizes demonstrated smaller math gains. Implications for school size decision making are discussed in light of these results.

High Schools on a Human Scale: How Small Schools Can Transform American Education

707 Children, Youth and Environments Vol. 17 No. 2 (2007) ISSN: 1546-2250 High Schools on a Human Scale: How Small Schools Can Transform American Education Toch, Thomas (2003). Boston: Beacon Press; 141 pages. $15. ISBN 080703245x. Since 2001, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested more than $700 million in high school reform efforts focused primarily in urban districts around the United States (Miner 2005). With the funding has come much publicity highlighting the merits of small high schools – defined by the Foundation as schools with fewer than 400 students – and emphasizing the inability of the nation’s large, comprehensive public high schools to meet the needs of most students today. What the majority of urban comprehensive high schools lack, the Gates Foundation asserts, is the means to deliver the essential “three R’s” of the 21st Century: rigor, relevance and relationships. In High Schools on a Human Scale, the publication of which was underwritten by the Gates Foundation, education writer Thomas Toch adds his voice to the litany against large high schools, making the case for a more intimate secondary education that connects students with the skills, motivation and support they need to succeed in college and in life. Toch has become a leading proponent of school reform, having written about education policy and trends for U.S. News and World Report throughout the 1990s and served as writer-in-residence at the National Center on Education and the Economy. This is his second book on the subject, and it wholeheartedly supports the Gates Foundation’s mission to replace the nation’s comprehensive high schools with small, specialized schools. It serves to augment the promotional efforts of the Foundation more than to provide a critical, research-based perspective on the high school reform debate. Teachers in training and experienced educators interested in small schools, members of school boards, parents of high school students, school facility designers, and others with an interest in school reform trends will appreciate the book for its emphasis on 708 practice and its clear writing. In his introduction, Toch describes how American high schools ballooned throughout the 20th Century in the name of efficiency, and how isolated small-school reform successes in the 1980s inspired the current effort that has gained widespread support, thanks to an influx of funding and research. The heart of the book is comprised of separate profiles of small high schools that have received Gates Foundation funding: Julia Richman Education Complex in New York City; Urban Academy, located within the Julia Richman complex; High Tech High inSan Diego, California; The Met in Providence, Rhode Island; and Minnesota New Country School in Henderson, Minnesota. The profiles highlight ways in which each individual small school approach has produced results around student and teacher satisfaction, educational achievement and the creation of real-world opportunities that help students find their talents and build relationships with adults in their communities. In an epilogue, Toch reiterates the essential qualities of successful small high schools and makes the case for “Scaling Up” school reform efforts. The appendix lists model high schools nationwide. The case for connecting American high school students with their abilities, their teachers and their communities has been convincingly made by many in recent years, including environmental psychologist Herb Childress (2003), and educator Dennis Littky (2004), whose book, The Big Picture: Education is Everyone’s Business, describes in detail the progressive philosophy and approach of The Met, one of the schools Toch profiles. But the concept that small schools can help students achieve their potential by becoming an indispensable part of a close-knit community is nothing new. In response to the high school consolidation drive of the 1960s, researchers Roger Barker and Paul V. Gump conducted a series of studies in urban and rural areas of the country to find out whether student experiences in large high schools and small high schools differed significantly. They found that students in small schools generally had richer experiences: Good facilities provide good experiences only if they are used. The educational process … thrives on participation, enthusiasm, and responsibility. Our findings and our theory posit a negative relationship between school size and individual student participation. What seems to...

A Principal's Dilemmas: Theory and Reality of School Redesign

After spending many years directing professional development programs, Ms. Evans decided to return to the trenches. As a principal trying to lead a large urban high school through substantial change, she learned that even the soundest theories do not always translate smoothly into real-world practice. SMALL SCHOOLS are big. Reformers have long contended -- and growing evidence confirms -- that smaller is better: for instruction, for relationships and community, and for behavior management. Students in small schools are more likely to be known well by faculty members, to be academically challenged, to take intellectual risks, and to engage in authentic learning. New York, Chicago, and Boston are among the cities that have experimented with the creation of new, small schools - - not to mention charter schools, which are almost invariably small. The question isn't whether small schools make a difference, but how to implement them. Dividing a large comprehensive high school into several small schools -- each coexisting productively, side-by-side -- is particularly difficult. Here, as with so many facets of school reform, there is a great divide between the world of university-based theorists, thinkers, and advocates, and the real world of actual school life. Bridging the divide is a challenge I experienced myself when I crossed over to become the principal of a large urban high school and broke it into five small schools. After having taught high school for 17 years, I had spent 15 years at Brown University, much of it directing professional development for the Coalition of Essential Schools and then the Annenberg Institute for School Reform. At Brown, I worked with schools across the country and had constant contact with teachers and principals. I was learning continuously. I had wonderful colleagues. I could consult in a school and then walk away. People appreciated my work, and they told me so. At the same time, I was increasingly jealous of the teachers and principals whose schools I visited. I missed the relationships with adolescents that had been so important to me during my years of teaching. I missed the community of a school. Our work at Brown -- creating critical friends in schools and developing protocols to help teachers look at student work and their own practice -- had some core assumptions about teaching and learning, about leadership, about teacher/teacher and teacher/student/parent relationships, and about the whole process of change. I wanted to test these assumptions for myself. I wondered, Could I help make some of this work in a school? What would it feel like? Would I have the smarts and stamina and sensitivity? Would I run away screaming? And so, after two years of wondering, I took the plunge. The Story In August 1999, I became principal of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS). It had 2,000 students and a tremendous achievement gap. As many in the school community acknowledged, it was really two schools: one for the minority poor and the other for the middle-class whites. All members of the school community said that they wanted big change. The school committee, the superintendent, and the teachers said that they wanted change now. The faculty members had studied change for years. They had created teacher, student, parent, and community committees to investigate options and had compiled a large book of proposed initiatives. But they had adopted none. They were ready for some leadership to help make it happen. This is what the faculty members and school administrators told me when I met with some 40 of them before I agreed to take the job. I asked them to describe the strengths and weaknesses of CRLS. Among the former, they cited the school's diversity (it offered something for everyone), its many external partnerships, its standing in the community, its good facilities, and its high per-pupil expenditure. A good list. But the weaknesses they cited were also significant: unequal access to resources across the five houses, a large achievement gap between the strongest and weakest students, institutional racism, clashes of conflicting philosophies between faculty members, much skepticism and cynicism among some groups of teachers, a general lack of accountability, a recent history of divided and unfocused leadership, and a pattern of too much talk and not enough action about school improvement. …

Open Learning to Sustain Rural Schools: The Replication of a Three-Stage Model

Rural schools in New Zealand and Canada have developed innovative ways of delivering education to students in small schools in remote communities using a range of technologies. Through the academic and administrative integration of classes from diverse sites, virtual educational structures and processes that complement traditional schools have developed, well-fitted to provide a template for the integration of on-site and on-line education in each country.

Understandings and misconceptions of biology concepts held by students attending small high schools and students attending large high schools

AbstractDo students from small high schools show fewer understandings and more misconceptions of biology concepts than students attending large high schools? Fifty students attending large high schools (enrollments exceeding 900 students) and fifty students attending small high schools (enrollments less than 150 students) were randomly selected and than evaluated on their understandings and misunderstandings of four biology concepts: diffusion, homeostasis, food production in plants, and classification of animals and plants. Students attending small high schools showed less instances of understanding and more instances of misunderstanding the concepts of diffusion and homeostasis. These differences could be related to a higher percentage of students in large schools capable of formal operations; sound understanding of diffusion and homeostasis required students to use formal operations. No difference was observed between the large and small school samples for the concepts of food production in plants and classification of plants and animals. Students in the small school sample lived in agricultural communities and their daily experiences allowed them to develop some understanding of food production in plants and prevented instances of misunderstandings from being developed. Classification of animals and plants required concrete operations to understand; therefore, students in small schools were capable of developing sound understanding as well as students from large schools.

Participation in Extracurricular Activities in Secondary School: What Is Known, What Needs to Be Known?

The paper reviews literature relating to extracurricular participation and adolescent development. Five areas are described: personal-social characteristics, academic achievement, educational aspirations and attainments, participants’ roles in activities, and environmental social context. A methodological critique and directions for future research are provided. Participation correlated with higher levels of self-esteem, improved race relations, involvement in political/social activity in young adulthood, academic ability and grades in males, educational aspirations and attainments, feelings of control over one’s life, and lower delinquency rates. However, causal relationships between participation and desirable characteristics have not been demonstrated. Students in smaller schools participate in a greater number and variety of extracurricular activities than students in larger schools. Low-ability and lower SES students are more involved in school life in smaller schools. The existing findings justify additional research into the processes by which participation may influence students’ lives.

Learning preferences: A comparison of gifted and above‐average middle grades students in small schools

Learning preferences: A comparison of gifted and above‐average middle grades students in small schools

SENSE OF OBLIGATION TO HIGH SCHOOL ACTIVITIES AS RELATED TO SCHOOL SIZE AND MARGINALITY OF STUDENT

2 field studies of high school students' sense of obligation to nonclass school activities are reported. Sense of obligation is conceived as mediating some relations between student and school environment, and is defined as a personal feeling of I ought to .. or I must . . i.e., a personal constraint, with reference to attending and helping with group activities. In 1961 (N = 40) and 1965 (N = 80), samples of marginal (poorly suited) and regular (better suited) students in small and large schools were interviewed concerning reasons for or pulls toward attending selected nonclass activities, and responses were coded into categories indicating sense of obligation. Marginal students in small schools reported as much sense of obligation as regular students, while marginal students in large schools reported little, if any. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed.