Fwd: Middle School/High School Changes

["Joan Opyr" <joanopyr@hotmail.com>]

>From: Melynda Huskey <melyndah@wsu.edu>
>To: joanopyr@hotmail.com
>Subject: Middle School/High School Changes
>Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 15:12:28 -0700
>
>I'm just beginning to process the proposed changes at the secondary level
>for Moscow School District, and I'm dismayed.
>
>A quick review of the research on high schools demonstrates, as Tom Gregory
>puts it, "since 1970, essentially all research favors the creation of small
>high schools."  Advantages of small schools compared to large schools
>include less crime and violence, fewer discipline problems, lower student
>tardiness and absenteeism, and less substance abuse and tobacco use by
>students; lower dropout rates and higher graduation rates; and higher and
>more varied extracurricular participation, which promotes academic success,
>better attendance, positive attitudes toward school, and enhanced social
>behavior.   Research indicates that school size alone can have a positive 
>or
>negative influence on achievement levels, but that small schools are more
>effective in impoverished communities and make achievement dramatically 
>more
>equitable. Secondary interpretations of the literature suggest that many
>schools are too large to serve students well, and smaller schools are 
>widely
>needed, particularly in impoverished communities.
>
>Why are we looking for a bigger, more populous, geographically isolated 
>high
>school when the research is clear that a smaller, centrally located school
>would serve students better?  And why would we spend millions of scarce
>dollars on a new building instead of wisely using the one we already own?
>I'd like to hear from school board members about the research and rationale
>that's gone into the school usage decisions of the last year or so--from
>closing the neighborhood elementary schools in favor of the new
>age-segregated schools, to proposing a middle school instead of a junior
>high, to building a new isolated facility for the 9-12 graders.  All of
>these decisions appear to be deeply counter-intuitive, as well as
>unsupported by research findings at a national level.
>
>Melynda Huskey
>Melynda Huskey
>Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Allies Program
>Washington State University
>Pullman WA  99164-7204
>335-6428
>melyndah@wsu.edu




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