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Thursday, May 24, 2007
Small Schools = Success?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta has declared a victory in its effort to turn around struggling Carver High, as reported by Bridget Gutierrez in today’s paper.
The school two years ago divided students into “small learning communities,” where students are divided by interest into smaller groups and go to class within these groups for all four years of school.
The concept, around in various forms for ages, has regained favor as school systems try to increase graduation rates and student performance.
Carver’s graduation rate two years ago was 36 percent. Last year? 61 percent. It’s enough that Superintendent Beverly Hall is planning that, by the 2009-10 school year, all of Atlanta’s high schools will look similar.
DeKalb, too, is turning to the concept, with its new environmentally themed high school in Lithonia — currently under construction — built in part to accommodate smaller learning groups.
Of course, this news comes a day after Newsweek Magazine announced its annual list of the nation’s Top 1,200 high schools. The list includes a number of metro schools. The magazine uses a ranking formula that compares the size of a school’s graduating class to the number of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests its students took last year.
Both those curricula are considered among the hardest at the high-school level, and the magazine argues it’s a truer way of measuring a good school.
I applaud the efforts of staff and students at Carver. I know change can sometimes be measured in baby steps. Dare I hope the school is on its way to a national ranking?
