Agenda - 03-11-1985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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i in schedulingg this variety provides more choice to the studeent.? In 1959 James H. Conant published SShool i Tod&v and drew public attention to the relationship of size and curriculum. In spite of the questions raised about his research and stateme.ntsabout the nature of American high schools, Conant'$ conclusion that "small high schools must be drastically reduced i through district reorganitaton" became popular opinion in the 1960se Conant maintained that "a high school must have a grad- uating class of at least one hundred to function adequately as a comprehensive school" and thus to provide a comprehensive edu- cational program. While thinking about Conant's position on size of school and curriculum* it is important to remember that the quality, not the quantityt of the courses is the significant factor, Staff utj,, i _et{en is another matter considered in relation ' to school size. In a,bigger school there is the possibility of better use of staff. It is often stated that a larger school al- lows for the better utilization of each teacher's talents. The teacher will have more opportunity to teach the subjects or age Ip levels to which he or she is best suited® The question remains, however, whether or not increased staff specialization produceffi quality education* The issue of pupil achievement is often related to size of l school. Does a larger school and school district with greater re- sources produce higher student achievement scores or more students entering college? All kinds of research can be found to support e ith er side of the question of student achievement and school size. � For example; Summers and Wolfe found that "higher achievement re- sults correlated with smaller schools at both the elementary and senior high .school level".!a On the other hand, Jantze - using a sample of 46 secondary schools in Nebraska which administered the Iowa Tests of Educational Development - determined that "achievement increased as enrollment increased to a point somewhere betwoen an : enrollment of 400 and 799".13 Still other studies have found "little or no significant difference in pupil achievement relative to school size". In general' though• recent research has concluded that "factors other than school size seen to be nor* important in . determining the degree of pupil achievement in school* factors such as student ability• educational attainment of a student's par- ent, and soeioeoehomic Atatuse In 1,96647 xinneseta public high JAIL