Smaller Was Better At Mayor's Schools;

Cut High School Classes
Smaller Was Better At Mayor's Schools


The 47 small high schools created by Mayor Bloomberg that won praise last month for higher-than-average graduation rates also had smaller-than-average class sizes.

JOEL I. KLEIN: A skeptic on class size. An analysis of the Department of Education's class-size data showed that the small high schools' classes averaged 24 students, compared to the citywide high school average of about 28. The preliminary graduation rate for the small schools was 73 percent this year, which topped last year's citywide rate of 55 percent. Advocates said that the class-size difference could be an important factor in student achievement and argued that the small schools were successful in part because they were receiving more resources.

'Favored Institutions'

"Is it the model that's better, or is it that the model is driving greater resources towards the schools?" asked David C. Bloomfield, the president of the Citywide Council on High Schools. "The small schools are the favored institution inside the DOE right now."

The Bloomberg administration celebrated the increased graduation rates at the small high schools as evidence that its educational strategy of shutting down low-performing large high schools and replacing them with small schools was yielding results. About 200 small high schools have been created since the Mayor took office, but only 47 have been in existence for the four years necessary to produce graduating classes.

DAVID C. BLOOMFIELD: City's priorities reflected.Some of the small schools had graduation rates that doubled those of the large high schools they replaced. For example, Hunter Science High School, which is located inside the Martin Luther King High School campus on the west side of Manhattan, had a 90-percent graduation rate, a dramatic increase from 41 percent in 2002 at MLK. The average class size at Hunter Science was 21.7 students per class.

The five schools that replaced Morris High School in The Bronx had a combined 67-percent graduation rate this year, compared to the 2002 rate of 31 percent. The new schools' combined average class size was 22.6 students.

A Welcome Reduction

The DOE does not have school-by-school class-size averages from past years, but most advocates agree that the large high schools were overcrowded and tended to have large classes.

NOT SURPRISED: United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said she was not surprised that the new small high schools had higher graduation rates, given the fact that they had a more-collaborative working environment and smaller class sizes. 'What we're saying is, let's have that in all schools,' she said. United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said that there were several factors that had led to the success at the small schools - including a spirit of collaboration, the heightened motivation brought by teachers and students who actively wanted to be in the school and, significantly, the smaller class sizes.

"It's not a surprise to me that the small school do so well," she said, "because all of these factors create a personal connection between children and adults. What we're saying is, let's have that in all of the schools."

Many advocates have questioned comparing the small schools to the rest of the system, noting that the new schools were not required to admit English Language Learners or Special Education students in their first two years of existence. They have also pointed to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's $100 million in contributions, plus grants from the Carnegie Foundation and other private funders, which they say have placed the small schools at an advantage.

The Department of Education created the Office of New Schools in 2003 and set a goal of creating 200 new small schools, including 50 charter schools, by 2008. In 2005, the Mayor pledged another 100 new small schools, as well as 50 more charter schools by 2009. The office provides resources to the schools, including aid in accessing private grants.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

Many advocates believe that small schools can be beneficial, but they object to the idea that they are inherently superior to large schools. "There is a system of triage regarding students in the large high schools," said Mr. Bloomfield, who was an early proponent of the small schools movement. "The DOE seems to believe students in large high schools will inevitably drop out and have lesser academic performance, so they don't pour as much resources into those schools as into schools they think will succeed."

But DOE officials insisted that the aid given to the new schools is primarily for start-up costs. "As they're phasing in, there's a whole host of needs that schools have when they're new," said DOE spokesman Melody Meyer. "When the schools are phased in, we expect that they will use the same resources available to all schools in the system."

Further, Ms. Meyer asserted that when the department revamped its funding formula this year, it discovered that the schools created since 2002 have been underfunded when compared with other schools in the system.

The UFT and education advocates have been locked in a battle with the Bloomberg administration over dedicating money to reduce class size. The city created a plan to reduce class size as part of its efforts to secure $228 million in state funding, but Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has often emphasized the importance of Teacher quality over reducing class size. Several groups have urged Governor Spitzer to reject the city's class-size reduction plan as inadequate.

See a Connection

Advocates said that even small reductions in class size could improve academic outcomes. They argued that Teacher quality was connected to class size.

"A mediocre Teacher will become less mediocre in a smaller class," said Noreen Connell, the executive director of the Educational Priorities Panel. "A good Teacher will become even better. It's adding instructional value. It can make all the difference in the world."