"A terrific manual for small schools or conversion efforts. Provides a logical road map and tools, and shows educators how to lead groups and engage the community in the rebuilding effort." —Sue Showers, Educational Consultant Bigger is not necessarily better. While current research shows that comprehensive high schools remain the norm, effective small-scale high schools feature lower student-to-teacher ratios, longer instructional blocks, more parent involvement, and increased advisory and student support. The resulting instructional benefits include reduced dropout rates, increased attendance, higher student achievement, and fewer discipline problems. Based on the authors′ work at the nationally renowned Center for Collaborative Education, Creating Small Schools presents an A–to–Z guide for developing small school communities that personalize the educational experience for all students, helping them form lasting bonds with faculty and ultimately increasing their chances of going to college. Success for students and schools depends on small class size, unifying vision, autonomy, and accountability. This research-based guidebook offers school leaders: Ways to establish new schools or convert existing ones Step-by-step instructions for developing a small schools plan Lessons, case studies, practical tools, advice, and vignettes Guidance for forging partnerships with district administration and the community Discover how small schools can effectively reach and motivate underserved learners, and watch as achievement levels rise for all students.

Critical Small Schools: Beyond Privatization in New York City Urban Educational Reform features the most current empirical research about the successes and challenges of the small schools movement and the implications of such for urban public educational policy. Situated in a climate of hierarchical reform, many of the principles of the original small schools movement——which are rooted in community participation, innovative pedagogies and assessment, and equity and social justice——have become obscured by an educational agenda that emphasizes top-down mandates and standards-based reform. With the increased popularity and the rapid proliferation of small schools, the emphasis on ‘‘size only’’ has resulted in a bifurcation of the small schools movement; on one end are the small schools which have embraced the democratic, participatory, and self-governing nature of the original movement, while on the other end are schools that have simply reduced their size without rethinking school structures and practices. This book distinguishes the small schools featured and researched in this volume from schools that are simply small and labels them ““critical small schools.”” By documenting the practices that take place in various critical small schools in New York City, we show how these schools have narrowed the achievement gap and increased graduation and college acceptance rates. Although smallness is an essential feature in the design of these schools, it is certainly not the only one and this volume illuminates the other elements that contribute to these schools’’ successes and shortcomings. Critical Small Schools also challenges the recent emphasis on charter schools as a panacea for urban educational reform. By featuring research about the inner workings of public schools, this volume challenges this new direction that steers successful school development away from public education. Moreover, as every site is fraught with some tension, Critical Small Schools not only offers glimpses into intellectually vibrant and democratic learning communities, but also acknowledges that these concepts are not static and necessitate continual reflection and renewal. At this pivotal moment in educational reform, this volume provides keen insight into the challenges and possibilities of the small schools movement and is indispensable for anyone interested in comprehensive public school reform.

This sociological study examines small learning communities and small schools in two major urban cities and highlights the relationship between school culture, personalization, and student engagement.

Small Schools, Big Ideas shows how the principle-based and equity-focused model from the Coalition of Essential Schools (CES) can be used to redesign existing schools and create new schools that prepare students for this century's challenges and opportunities. Filled with inspirational stories and illustrative examples from schools that have successfully implemented CES principles and practices, Small Schools, Big Ideas offers information and inspiration needed to: Transform schools in order to achieve equitable outcomes for all students Understand various school design options Establish school vision, mission, and goals to raise educational expectations and results Develop transformational leadership Cultivate a professional learning community Implement student-centered teaching, learning, and curricula Build productive relationships with families and communities Establish strategies for sustainability These recommendations and proven strategies can help educators transform their schools to become truly equitable, personalized, and academically challenging.

When education activists in New York, Chicago, and other urban school districts in the 1980s began the small-schools movement, they envisioned a new kind of public school system that was fair and equitable and that encouraged new relationships between teachers and students. When that movement for school reform ran head-on into the neo-conservative takeover of the Department of Education and its No Child Left Behind strategy for school change, a new model of federal power bent on the erosion of public space and the privatization of public schooling emerged. Michael and Susan Klonsky, educators who were among the early leaders of the small-schools movement, tell the story of how a once-promising model of creating new small and charter schools has been used by the neocons to reproduce many of the old inequities. Small Schools is the engaging story of what happens when the small-schools movement meets the Ownership Society.

A Good Little School pays homage to Jefferson County Open School, a public school of choice with a thirty-year history of providing an alternative education for students in K-12. Chronicled in this book are the personal experiences and anecdotes of teachers, parents, and students within the school, and how their contributions make it unique. In so doing, these reflections demonstrate to others that there is more to education than conventional subject areas such as math and reading. Also examined are the ways in which the school preserves the core elements that support the students' best personal, social, and intellectual interests. These self-reflective accounts create a learning environment with humanity at the center, giving students the skills necessary to lead compassionate lives.

American schools are undergoing huge changes, among the most significant of which is that their size is increasing rapidly. This book lays out very practical approaches to making our ever-increasingly large schools work more effectively. By closely analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of large schools, the author can provide effective tools and strategies for dealing with them. Shapiro digs away at the foreseen and unforeseen consequences of this rapid escalation of size, and presents practical, tried-and-true strategies for undoing some of the more unfortunate results of this social trend or drift.

Creating Joyful Classrooms is a practical response to the malaise in America’s schools created by high stakes testing, disrespect for the teaching profession, and resources being redirected to charter schools and private school vouchers. Classroom teachers feel helpless and students feel hapless. Joy has left the building. This book offers the antidote to return joy and passion to teaching and learning. Whether a beginning teacher or a seasoned veteran, this book shows the way back to timeless child-centered best practices that engage young children and increase academic achievement. As joyful classrooms multiply, their success will drive out the poisonous rancor of cynicism and despair to become beacons of hope for children everywhere. This book also makes the case for changing the status quo in the elementary school. The standard traditional grade school is failing to meet the needs of children growing up in the information age. Elementary schools must evolve into multi-grade, multi-dimensional safe havens that challenge children academically, while remembering to cherish childhood. Based upon the theory of invitational education, this book provides specific strategies, along with classroom management tools, to create highly engaging classrooms for young children. It also offers inspiring stories of heroic teachers who beat the odds to bring joy back to school. It’s not too late for a better tomorrow.