Here in the state of Florida, schools have been hit hard with the latest legislative budget. Unfortunately, this will probably result in combining schools into larger ones in an effort to save money. However, research has shown that smaller schools are in fact much more effective than larger ones. Here is an article that talks about different aspects of a small school versus that of a large school. Smaller schools provide administrators the ability to have better control and allow for more one-on-one interaction.
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Perhaps one way to decide the best size for a school is to look at those that charge fees – Eton (UK), for example, says that it would never increase above 600; at this size, pupils and teachers can know each other as individuals, and achieve the greatest educational good. I taught in a local authority school with 400 on roll – it was much more relaxed than my present school of 1600 students; at the smaller school, any troublesome pupils could be identified, now I do not know half the pupils!!
Comment from Sweden.
Thanks for your interesting pages!
Larger schools may seem to be economically more viable – but I’m sure pupils feel more secure in smaller establishments!
There are pros and cons with all school sizes. Those pros and cons sometimes differ depending on your position in the educational community, i.e., student, teacher, principal, school board member, district taxpayers with/without children.
I done half of my high schooling at a small rural school (250 students) and the other half at a large school with 1600 or so pupils. At the small school it was more student orientated and all the students knew each other as well as the teachers.
While at the larger school, the quality of education was a lot higher and it helped me to achieve more of my potential with there being a lot more competition between students. Most of the staff did not know the students very well though and vice versa and the spirit of the school was not there.
At University I found that while they are large institutions, you quickly become established in a group within your course and those extended friends help you more than the academics or anything else.