Expert perspectives

After forty years of consolidation and growth in the size of public school districts and schools, there is growing evidence that large-scale education comes at a high price:

Small Schools Rising

Jay Matthews, Newsweek (May 2008)

Issues and Initiatives: Neighborhood Schools
National Trust for Historic Preservation (2008)

Response to Arizona School District Redistricting Comission

Osborn Elementary School District No. 8 (2007)

Edge-ucation: What compels communities to build schools in the middle of nowhere?
ROB GURWITT, Governing Magazine (March 2004)

Growing Pains: The School Consolidation Movement and Student Outcomes

Christopher Berry and Martin West (2004)

School District Consolidation and Student Outcomes: Does Size Matter?
Christopher Berry, Harvard University (2003)

Small School Districts and Economies of Scale

Louisiana Department of Education (May 2003)

The Influence of District Size, School Size and Socioeconomic Status on Student Achievement in Washington

Martin Abbot, et al., Washington School Research Center (November 2002)

Why Johnny Can't Walk to School

Beaumont and Pianca, National Trust for Historic Preservation (October 2002)

A Report on School District Organization

Colorado Department of Education (October 2002)

Get more local control with smaller school districts
Jay P. Greene and Marcus A. Winters, South Florida Sun-Sentinel (September 23, 2002)

Small Schools, Big Lessons
Bill McKinney, David M. Steglich, and Jill A. Stever-Zeitlin, McKinsey Quarterly (2002 Number 2)

Big Trouble: Solving Education Problems Means Rethinking Super-Size Districts and Schools
David N. Cox, The Sutherland Institute (January 2002)

Smaller Districts: Closing the Gap for Poor Kids

Howley and Bickel (August, 2001)

School District Size and School Performance
Craig B. Howley, AEL Inc. (2000)

Mission Creep: How Large School Districts Lose Sight of the Objective—Student Learning
Mike Antonucci, Alexis de Toqueville Institute, Issue Brief No. 176 (November 17, 1999)

The Big Benefits of Smallness
Deborah W. Meier, Educational Leadership Vol. 54, #1 (September 1996)

A District of a Certain Size

Florence R. Webb, University of California, Berkeley (February 1989)

SmallerSchools.org