Ravitch: Size Matters

In a Sunday Washington Post op-ed Diane Ravitch weighs-in on the school size issue. Some additional 411 here and here.

Ravitch agrees with the growing consensus that today’s big urban high schools are too large but argues in essence that:

Small schools of fewer than 300 may be appropriate for some students, especially those who have been educationally unsuccessful, but they are not the right size for most students. If we move too far in that direction, we may have the paradoxical outcome of higher graduation rates and persistent mediocre achievement.

Eduwonk thinks worry not. While some schools of this size are being created as part of the new wave of small schools, and many are terrific schools, logistics alone mean it will not be the norm over time (and besides, the good ones get bigger anyway).

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