Chicago’s Small Schools See Gains, But Not on Tests

A major Chicago initiative to improve high schools by making them smaller has raised attendance, lowered the dropout rate, and created better learning environments, but has not improved students’ scores on state tests, a study has found.

The study of the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative comes as experts across the country are examining the early outcomes of the small-schools movement, promoted by many as a key strategy for improving public schools. ( "Small Schools’ Ripple Effects Debated," May 3, 2006.)

The redesign initiative, using more than $26 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Chicago philanthropies, has opened 23 small schools in the city since 2002. Seven of those opened only last year, so they were not included in the study, which was released Aug. 2 by the Consortium on Chicago School Research and Mills...