Small schools and the pressure to consolidate.

dc.creator	Aimee Howley
dc.creator	Craig Howley
dc.date	2006-03-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:05:19Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:05:19Z
dc.identifier	1068-2341
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/fe9aeda0a5bb4cfaa43a2c43d402dbf6
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/9669
dc.description	Positioned in relationship to reform literature calling for small schools “by design” and interpreting data from a case study of a high performing but low-SES district in a Midwestern state, this paper provides a basis for making sense of the apparent divergence in policies governing schooling structures in rural and urban places. Its interpretation examines the way educational reformers work to valorize a multidimensional set of practices constituting “small school reform.” This reform package is, ironically, to some extent unrelated to what is actually taking place naturally in small schools and districts, where more “traditional” practices are said to be more common. Reformers often regard such practices as deficient, but that judgment seems to disregard empirical findings about school and district size, which typically show that smaller scale itself confers advantages across locales. Moreover, they overlook dynamics such as those revealed in this case study, which demonstrate how smaller scale promotes a close-knit family atmosphere as well as shared commitment to a set of core values. In addition, with smaller scale come structural arrangements that support an ethos of self-sufficiency and openness to “outsiders”—transient as well as open-enrollment students. These dynamics enable a small district to weather substantial threats to its existence.
dc.language	English
dc.language	Spanish
dc.language	Portuguese
dc.publisher	Arizona State University
dc.relation	http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/81
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1068-2341
dc.rights	CC BY
dc.source	Education Policy Analysis Archives, Vol 14, p 10 (2006)
dc.subject	small schools
dc.subject	school district organization
dc.subject	school consolidation
dc.subject	rural education
dc.subject	education reform
dc.subject	reformism.
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	Small schools and the pressure to consolidate.
dc.type	article