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Voices in Urban Education
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Small Schools and Race
VUE Number 2, Fall 2003
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
EXCERPT:
Linking Communities and Effective Learning Environments: The Role of Local Education Funds
By Wendy Puriefoy, President
Public Education Network
> Complete bio
Believing that small schools are more likely to possess the attributes of effective learning environments, local education funds in a number of communities have supported the development of small learning environments as a means of providing diverse opportunities for higher achievement and connecting schools and their communities.
There is growing evidence that students attending small schools stay in school longer, learn more, get higher grades, are more positive about school in general, and are more likely to graduate. Research also shows that smaller learning environments add to the social, human, and community dimension of schools in ways that deepen and accelerate academic improvement. Effective small schools — like all effective schools — raise teacher and parent expectations, support collaborative teaching, offer fair and consistent discipline, and create authentic communitybased learning efforts.
But the key to small schools is not smallness. It is the presence of conditions that put high achievement in reach of children, no matter the size of the school. These conditions include high-quality teachers, a rigorous curriculum, high expectations, assessments that are diagnostic rather than punitive, environments that are physically and psychologically safe, and adequate resources. Intentional small schools are more likely than larger ones to possess these attributes and to create better environments for students, their families, and people in the community. For this reason, the Public Education Network and its local education fund (LEF) members have created and supported effective small learning environments as a means to provide more and diverse opportunities to increase student achievement.
Since their creation in 1983, LEFs have played multiple roles in public school reform. As “critical friends,” LEFs both push and support school districts to make the fundamental changes in policy and practice needed to reduce the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their more affluent white peers. It should come as no surprise, then, that LEFs were among the first education advocates to create small schools that address some of the most pressing issues confronting poor urban schools — low teacher expectations; the quality and quantity of professional development opportunities; unacceptably high student-to-teacher ratios; weak relationships between the school and the community; and, perhaps most saliently for our organization, the absence of a knowledgeable and engaged public.
In urban school districts around the country, where resources and capacity are stretched to meet higher standards, the ongoing support and leadership provided by LEFs in planning and implementing small schools make a critical difference. They help ensure that these schools serve the children — predominantly children of color — who attend them, their families, and their communities.
Archives
Small Schools and Race
VUE Number 2, Fall 2003
| VUE Home | Archives | Order Print Copy |
EXCERPT:
Linking Communities and Effective Learning Environments: The Role of Local Education Funds
By Wendy Puriefoy, President
Public Education Network
> Complete bio
Believing that small schools are more likely to possess the attributes of effective learning environments, local education funds in a number of communities have supported the development of small learning environments as a means of providing diverse opportunities for higher achievement and connecting schools and their communities.
There is growing evidence that students attending small schools stay in school longer, learn more, get higher grades, are more positive about school in general, and are more likely to graduate. Research also shows that smaller learning environments add to the social, human, and community dimension of schools in ways that deepen and accelerate academic improvement. Effective small schools — like all effective schools — raise teacher and parent expectations, support collaborative teaching, offer fair and consistent discipline, and create authentic communitybased learning efforts.
But the key to small schools is not smallness. It is the presence of conditions that put high achievement in reach of children, no matter the size of the school. These conditions include high-quality teachers, a rigorous curriculum, high expectations, assessments that are diagnostic rather than punitive, environments that are physically and psychologically safe, and adequate resources. Intentional small schools are more likely than larger ones to possess these attributes and to create better environments for students, their families, and people in the community. For this reason, the Public Education Network and its local education fund (LEF) members have created and supported effective small learning environments as a means to provide more and diverse opportunities to increase student achievement.
Since their creation in 1983, LEFs have played multiple roles in public school reform. As “critical friends,” LEFs both push and support school districts to make the fundamental changes in policy and practice needed to reduce the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their more affluent white peers. It should come as no surprise, then, that LEFs were among the first education advocates to create small schools that address some of the most pressing issues confronting poor urban schools — low teacher expectations; the quality and quantity of professional development opportunities; unacceptably high student-to-teacher ratios; weak relationships between the school and the community; and, perhaps most saliently for our organization, the absence of a knowledgeable and engaged public.
In urban school districts around the country, where resources and capacity are stretched to meet higher standards, the ongoing support and leadership provided by LEFs in planning and implementing small schools make a critical difference. They help ensure that these schools serve the children — predominantly children of color — who attend them, their families, and their communities.
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