Why Small Schools Work by Tim Seldin
TIM SELDIN MAKES A CASE FOR SMALL SCHOOLS BASED ON HISTORICAL AND SCIENTIFIC DATA.
A hundred years ago, most schools
were very small in comparison
with the large elementary
schools and enormous middle
and high schools that we find across America
and in much of the rest of the world.
The one-room schoolhouse was the traditional
American classroom model. Classes were
multi-aged. Students learned from each other,
especially from the older students in the class,
as well as from their teachers.
Junior and senior high schools were typically
combined and commonly had enrollments of
fewer than 400 students. While many parents
and students worry that students will
lose out in a smaller social environment,
studies show that small schools foster environments
in which parents, teachers, and
students get to know one another well. Students
tend to develop social skills, learn how
to avoid or resolve conflicts amicably, and
grow strong school friendships that tend to
last for a lifetime.
Over the last hundred years, this tradition
changed, and large schools became the norm.
It is worth remembering how this came to be.
Before 1900, less than 10 percent of all students
attended high school. Most began school at age
six and left after the eighth grade. By 1910, the
percentage attending high school had risen to
35 percent, but only 4 percent of American
youth went on to college. In the past, high
school was seen as preparation for college, and
college was simply not seen as being necessary
for employment in most professions.
As the 20th century dawned, several social
movements came together to transform the
American educational system and, ultimately,
influence education throughout the world.
The first was the vigorous progressive drive
to improve wages and working conditions
in the increasingly urbanized and industrial
economy of North America. One aspect was
the campaign to discourage businesses and
industries from employing children. The goal
was both child protection and the elimination
of this tremendous and inexpensive pool of
labor. This laudable goal was accomplished
by making child labor illegal and by requiring
parents to send children to school.
The second great impetus to build even larger
schools was the great wave of immigrants,
who came to the United States and Canada
from Europe during the 1890s and early years
of the twentieth century.
This was also a period of major growth in many
industries, from mining to manufacturing,
and the labor movement began to organize in
response to low wages, long hours, and poor
working conditions. This influx of immigrants
and labor unrest led to a growing fear of
socialism and foreign influences. As immigrant
populations gathered in large cities and around
industrial and mining communities, free (but
compulsory) education was seen as the surest
way to turn foreigners into loyal citizens. The
public schools became the great ‘American
Melting Pot’ and were idealized as a central part
of the shared American experience. Whatever
the positive outcomes of this trend, it also led
to a movement from small independent local
schools to large bureaucratic school systems.
As the economy began to shift, young teenagers
(who did not live on farms) began to find
it increasingly difficult to find a job, and social
and economic pressure led many to stay in
school longer.
At the same time, educational reformers saw
the need to better prepare young people for
the world of work, whether or not they had
any interest in going on to college.
Thus, with both a growing population
and a burgeoning number of young people
between the age of 6 and 16 required to
attend public schools, our cities began to find
ways to house and educate a rapidly growing
number of students.
Finally, to understand how schools grew from
small neighborhood settings to modern shopping
mall-sized buildings that can house five
hundred and more elementary students and
thousands of middle and high school students,
under one roof, we have to remember
that in the first half of the 20th century,
most of North America was fascinated with
industrial efficiency. Henry Ford popularized
the idea of the assembly line, but many management
experts contributed to the idea of
standardization of parts, setting performance
expectations, and laying out plans for making
entire organizations more efficient.
Many good things came from this process,
primarily greater output, technological innovation,
and many more household goods and
major purchases that have come to shape our
lives. There is a direct line from the start of
the modern industrial revolution to the cars
that we drive, the modern kitchen, the entertainment
industry, our cell phones, and the
internet. There is also a direct connection between
it and climate change, the pollution of
our oceans, and the depersonalization of our
society, which begins with our schools.
Whatever reasons explain (and perhaps once
justified) the creation of large schools, today
there is a strong case to reverse the trend.
From both studies and the experience of
thousands of smaller public and nonpublic
schools, we find that in these more personalized
settings, students get a better education and
feel more connected to the school community
than in the large settings that many of us take
for granted. This is true in inner cities and
affluent suburban communities. It is true at
every level, from elementary to high school.
Major education reform groups, such as the
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