The Impact of High School Size on Math Achievement and Dropout Rate

Abstract

Viadero, D. (2001). The dropout dilemma. Education Week, 20, 26. Retrieved from http://www.edweek .org/ew/articles/2001/02/07/21dropout.h20.html Werblow, J., & Duesbery, L. (2009). The impact of high school size on math achievement and dropout rate.

A Study of School Size among Alabama’s Public High Schools

“…This supports the findings of five of the studies reviewed by Leithwood and Jantzi (2009), as well as the studies of Gardner et al (2000) and Ornstein (1990). However, it is in contradiction to 14 of the studies reviewed by Leithwood and Jantzi and to the findings of Johnson (2006), Lee and Smith (1997), Schneider et al (2007), and Werblow and Duesbery (2009). The correlations in this study between high school size and student performance on standardized tests were highest for students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds and for students not in special education programs, in contrast with Lee's (2000) findings.…”

“…For example, Lee and Smith (1997) examined data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study: 1988 (NELS:88), whereas Schneider, Wyse, and Kessler (2007) and Werblow and Duesbery (2009) used data for the National Educational Longitudinal Study : 2002, andGardner, Ritblatt, andBeatty (2000) examined scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Leithwood and Jantzi (conducted a meta-analysis on 18 studies; unfortunately, they did not specify which examinations were used in those studies.…”

“…They also found that students in schools with a population of less than 1,500 students were likely to stay in school. Werblow and Duesbery (2009) Education, 2005). They found a similar positive relationship between high school size and dropout rates: "A gentle increase in school size is associated with a 12% increase in the average student dropout rate.…”

Mindful Leaders in Highly Effective Schools

“…Historically, SES has consistently been identified one of the best predictors of student success (Goddard et al, 2009;Hoy et al, 2002). It is also not surprising to find that the largest schools underperformed compared to the smaller schools in this study (b ¼ -0.139, p < 0.05) as this is also consistent with prior studies (Strike, 2008;Werblow, 2009). …”

On the Wrong Track: How Tracking is Associated with Dropping Out of High School

“…Nearly one third of all public high school students in the U.S.-and nearly one half of all African American, Hispanic, and Native American students fail to graduate in four years (Bridgeland, Dilulio, & Morison, 2006). According to Stillwell and Sable's (2013) report for the U.S. Department of Education, nearly one-third of all high school students fail to graduate in four years Students placed in lower academic tracks are likely to have higher dropout rates, in part, because lower track placement is associated with predictors of school climate (Lee & Smith, 2001;Pittman & Haughwout, 1987;Werblow & Duesbery, 2009) that correlate with dropout. Some of these predictors include students' perception that instruction is uninteresting and of low quality, a lack of classroom cohesion, and students feeling alienated from the rest of their school (Archambault, Janosz, Fallu, & Pagani, 2009;Bridgeland, Dilulio, & Morison, 2006;Fortin, Marcotte, Potvin, Royer, & Joly, 2006;Lessard, Butler-Kisber, Fortin, Marcotte, Potvin, & Royer, 2008;Osterman, 2000;Pittman & Haughwout, 1987).…”