From the Authors

 

"Creating small schools is about so much more than smallness.  It is about how schools take advantage of size and rethink the high school experience for urban students."

--Regis Shields

"These findings advance the limited existing research on resource use in secondary schools and demonstrate that it is not just how much money is spent that impacts student learning, but how well the resources are used."

--Karen Hawley Miles

  

Rethinking the Cost of Small High Schools Project

Education Resource Strategies recently concluded a three-year effort aimed at building understanding and tools that would support districts in creating cost-effective systems of high-performing urban high schools.  Out of our extensive research, we created the following reports and tools to support leaders as they consider and design small high schools in their districts.  This project was made possible by the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.   

 

Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small High Schools 

This report illustrates how nine high performing, small urban high schools across the U.S. are thinking about and organizing their resources strategically to best meet their students' most pressing needs. Through interviews and reviews of class schedules, staffing strategies, budgets, and more, the report provides a detailed look at how leaders in these "Leading Edge Schools" carefully and purposefully think about how they use every staff member, each moment of the school day, and every dollar to support student learning.  At "Leading Edge Schools":

  • Principals carefully select teaching staff to meet high standards and fit specific school design needs.
  • Students, on average, spend 20% more time in school each day and 233 more days over four years on core academic compared to their peers in traditional high schools.
  • Teachers devote five times more hours to collaborating and professional development than local districts require.

Case Studies of Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools

This report is a companion to the "Strategic Designs" study and contains the complete case studies for each of the nine schools analyzed.  View and download the full report containing the 9 cases studies or click below to view them individually.

Appendices from "Leading Edge" Studies

The Cost of Small High Schools: A Literature Review

This document considers the limited research on small high school costs, resource use, and constraints to understand the key questions surrounding the topic and identify further areas for investigation.  View and download in PDF format

District Spending in Small and Large High Schools: Lessons from Boston, Baltimore & Chicago

This report compares spending at small and large high schools both within and across the three urban districts.  (Will be released September 2008) 

Going to Scale Tool

This planning & teaching tool helps district leaders examine their own contect and understand, quantify, and more strategically deploy the typical sources of additional spending found in many small high schools.  (Will be released September 2008) 

Small Secondary Schools Design Tool

This is a web-based tool that supports school leaders in building their resouce strategies, allowing them to test the budgetary and strategic impact of different design choices.  (Will be released September 2008)

District Assessment Tool

This tool supports the district planning by allowing leaders to assess district resources against essential district roles using both quantitatie and qualitative diagnostic indicators.  (Will be released August 2008)

 

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