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Do Small Schools Make A Difference?

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - MDRC, a New York-based education and research organization, reporting on achievement of 105 of 123 New York's "small schools of choice," found that students grew more academically than those in the city's larger public high schools.

Tracking 21,000 students, a higher percentage of those from the small schools graduated in both four and five years. MDRC is planning to follow the cohorts through college and careers.

With 83% of the kids qualifying for free or reduced price lunch, 93% students of color and 63% entering 9th grade behind grade level, mostly from poor neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Bronx, the results speak well for breaking up large comprehensive high schools into smaller units.

But as the report adds… "it's not just smallness for smallness' sake"...the question is "how do you take advantage of smallness to create an effective learning environment?"

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