The decades-old trend toward larger high schools continues in the United States. More than 70 percent of high school students attend schools with more than 1,000 students (Cotton, 1996), yet the purported advantages of large schools—cost efficiency, a comprehensive curriculum, and increased opportunities for students—remain elusive (Gregory, 1992).
Meanwhile, research strongly suggests that smaller schools are more effective than larger ones with respect to safety, accountability, student achievement, student behavior, student attitude, student satisfaction, parent involvement, and dropout prevention (Raywid, 1999). Comparisons of schools on the basis of size favor smaller units even when all other factors are held constant (Howley, 1994), and research confirms that small schools provide better emotional and social support for students because of the more attentive environment possible in smaller settings (Cotton, 1996). Amid hopes that small-scale schooling can lessen the possibility of student violence or help solve the quagmire of huge urban schools with high concentrations of at-risk students, the federal government has stepped in, offering grants of up to $500,000 to entice school districts to plan and implement strategies for developing smaller learning communities (U.S. Department of Education, 2000).
Separate, smaller school buildings; schools-within-schools; alternative schools; and in-school units, teams, families, and houses are among the proposals put forward as options for large schools to reap the benefits of small-scale schooling. But it is not always so easy. As anyone associated with a large school knows, effecting change in large schools is often like turning an aircraft carrier in a harbor; don't expect any nimble movement.
Fairmont's Situation
At Fairmont High School in Kettering, Ohio, however, we have realized significant gains by developing several features of small-scale schooling for our 2,500 students, and we have made these changes without major restructuring or reorganization. During the past four years, our dropout rate has fallen from 32 percent to 13 percent, our suspensions have declined by 25 percent, and our attendance at school functions has more than doubled. For example, five years ago we accommodated 500 students in the small gym for our homecoming dance, whereas this year we had 1,200 attendees and used our small gym, large gym, and athletic complex lobby. The only plausible explanation for our recent improvements is the change in the climate of the school.
The city of Kettering is an inner-belt suburb of Dayton, Ohio, situated between the larger and older city of Dayton to the north and the newer, wealthier suburbs to the south. Kettering is experiencing significant demographic shifts, and, consequently, Fairmont's student population is becoming increasingly diverse. Kettering's schools enjoy strong community support and are buoyed by a significant industrial base, and Fairmont has an excellent reputation from the days when Kettering was one of the premier suburbs in the state.
Five years ago, however, the school and the community became increasingly concerned about an extraordinarily high, and climbing, dropout rate. At about the same time, more than 60 percent of the students chose the response "I do not feel like I belong at Fairmont" on a North Central Association student survey. To change the dropout rate and student perceptions of the school, Fairmont's teachers and staff set about to improve the climate of the school by making it feel smaller.
Initiatives that Changed the School
Making the commitment. Our first initiative was to commit ourselves to creating a more welcoming, inviting, and supportive place for all students. We started by inviting consultant William Purkey to visit the school. His model of invitational education (Purkey & Novak, 1988; Purkey & Stanley, 1997) describes how an actively inviting environment for all students can foster a sense of belonging and reciprocity and can create a healthy learning community. His visit inspired us to make Fairmont's environment more hospitable to all students.
Creating advisories. At the same time, we implemented the advisory period for the first 13 minutes of each day. Advisories are very different from traditional homerooms. Now, each teacher-advisor stays with the same 20 advisees for four years and hands them their diplomas on stage at graduation. Advisory team-building activities—inter-advisory contests that involve car pushing, bubble-gum blowing, name that tune, guess that teacher, and marshmallow/toothpick house building—occur throughout the year. Advisory teachers help their advisees start each day right, advise students on class schedules, hold conferences with advisees' parents, and assist advisees with developing their career plans. Successful young people should have at least three adults in their lives who care about them and know them well (Benson, 1997), and Fairmont's teacher-advisors try hard to be one such adult for their advisees.
Putting up pictureboards. Another initiative was the advisory pictureboard. At the beginning of each year, we distribute instant cameras and film to the teachers, who take pictures of their advisees, usually three students to a picture. The art department then arranges the photos into a framed collage—the Fairmont Family—and hangs it in the cafeteria. One day during lunch, after students have had ample time to peruse the pictures, they receive free burgers if they can find their own pictures in under 10 seconds. The advisory pictureboard has become a popular institution.
Exploring careers. We also began to focus on helping students think about their careers. "What are you going to do and be someday?" has become the most frequently asked question in the school. We require all sophomores to take a semester career-exploration class, and we make sure that students are familiar with the new job market in technology. Adults no longer ask "Are you going to college?" or "Where are you going to college?" Rather, we ask "How will you take care of yourself and your family someday?" and "What is your plan for finding a place for yourself in the modern work world?"
We recognize and celebrate with enthusiasm the plans and dreams of all students. "I hope to be a plumber, landscaper, cook, or truck driver" must receive the same approving, affirming, congratulatory response as "I plan to be a doctor, lawyer, architect, or engineer." In most schools, any question that focuses solely on college or professional careers automatically disenfranchises half the student body. Students who make connections between their career ambitions and their classroom activities will stay in school, work harder, and perform better.
Getting along. A 9th grader recently exclaimed, "Walking down the hallways at Fairmont is an adventure!" She is correct; the student body of Fairmont becomes more diverse each year. Fairmont does not tolerate fighting, gang activity, and hate crimes, of course, but intimidation and harassment of any type also elicit an immediate and severe response. More important, students have opportunities to address their own social problems. Students know that they can request help from the thriving peer mediation system or can approach any adult in the building for assistance with troublesome social situations. Growing Peace, a student organization, has taken the lead in celebrating differences through projects, initiatives, and community action. The clearly stated—and implemented—principle at Fairmont is that every student has the right to learn in safe, respectful, and pleasant conditions.
Encouraging participation. One characteristic of small-scale schooling is greater student participation in school activities. We began encouraging student participation in school activities through our schoolwide TV distribution system. We videotaped almost all school activities—concerts, plays, talent shows, club functions, athletic contests, and dances—and showed clips to the entire student body during the advisory periods. Students who have never been to a school dance, for example, can see the setting, see students having fun, observe attending students being valued and affirmed by school adults, and begin to imagine themselves becoming involved.
We often show clips of an activity from a previous year as an advertisement for this year's event. These videoclips, which are popular with the students, focus on student participants, familiarize students with participation options, and give students a feel for the life of the school. Most important, they encourage, highlight, and celebrate the participation of all students.
Setting the Tone of a Smaller School
Large schools are usually impersonal places; people go about their business without acknowledging or even appearing to notice one another. Adults in large schools often assume a routine cordiality that amounts to emotional neutrality. Making a big school seem smaller reverses this sense of alienation. The commitment, reciprocity, and social bonding that develop among adults and students increase everyone's personal investment in the school. One adult can cause a student to think, "Mrs. Johnson seems to like me, she knows my name, she smiles at me a lot, she asks about my family, she seems to want me to do well, she wants me to come to school . . . so, I guess I'd better get there." Students who are most receptive to our attention often need it the least, and those who most resist our friendly concern want and need it desperately. Teachers in large schools need to become more familiar with the names, families, histories, interests, problems, accomplishments, and idiosyncrasies of their students. How can we inspire teachers to make these efforts?
Several years ago, a local businessman explained to Kettering's school administrators the secret of his success; he claimed that if his company took care of the employees, the employees would take care of the customers. Fairmont's administration has adopted this perspective; we believe that the best way to encourage the school's adults to take care of students is for us to take care of the adults. A steady diet of caring, affirming, friendly attention for the teachers and other adult caregivers in a school greatly increases the chances that they will respond in kind to students.
The principal plays an important role in the success of any initiative to make a large school feel smaller. Such initiatives may not succeed even with the principal's support, but they will certainly fail without it. The principal must make clear that every student and staff member will be treated with dignity and respect; must model desired behavior every day; must promote the profession of nurse's aide, for example, as a career worthy of respect and admiration; must videotape the battle of the bands; must resist pressure to stack the deck in favor of the advantaged; must spend time memorizing student names; must keep a sharp eye out for unrecognized student and staff achievements; and must send handwritten birthday cards to staff members. The principal must be genuine about the school as a community. The principal must shift from thinking of the school as an organization to thinking of it as a community for cultivating and nurturing relationships.
Educators associated with large schools might agree with the concept of small-scale learning communities but hesitate to begin massive restructuring and reorganization projects. At Fairmont, we have undertaken a number of inexpensive and manageable initiatives designed to make our huge school feel smaller. Much of our work has involved improving the tone and spirit of the school and has focused on attitudes, mind-sets, and perspectives. These measures have proven to be effective, the outcomes seem consistent with the research on small schools, and any or all of the initiatives can be launched in any school on Monday morning.
