A new report finds some promising signs emerging from 25 small high schools created in Philadelphia.
Lots of small high schools have managed to make coming to school more appealing. Not infrequently, we see signs of improved engagement, like better attendance or behavior. The schools studied by Research For Action, a Philadelphia-based group, showed lower suspension rates, and a mixed picture on attendance, but they also showed better academic results: Kids in those schools are passing Algebra more often than their counterparts in big schools.
Interesting findings, to mix into the soup with many others that inform the small schools conversation. (Check here, here, here, here and here for some examples. And that barely cracks the surface of this much-discussed topic.)