1.    Small Community Schools Work
2.    How Is My Child Doing In School?
3.    How Important Is School Size?
4.    Commissioner Cate’s Report on Education Governance
5.    Reader Comment – Decentralize Education

Small Community Schools Work
PICO Network National Case Study:
Changing the Face of Education in Oakland (CA)

Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) broke new ground in education reform when it partnered with the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools to develop the first small autonomous schools policy for the Oakland School District in 2000.  The policy prioritizes the development of new small schools in areas that are overcrowded, sets targets for the development of new small schools, defines small schools, establishes principles that govern the autonomy of small schools over hiring, budget, curriculum and instruction, and establishes support and accountability systems for small schools. 

Led by parents and community leaders, the New Small Autonomous School Movement is changing the face of education in Oakland. Twenty-five new small schools have opened in the last four  years because OCO organized parents and community leaders who worked to make it happen. New schools are making decisions about personnel, budget, and curriculum. The school district is reshaping itself to support this reform. The OCO goal is to create high quality small schools all across the city so that families can choose the best school for their child.

Early data from Oakland shows that New Small Autonomous Schools are outperforming comparable schools in the city.  Attendance rates are higher and more students are succeeding on state achievement tests.  More young people in Oakland are graduating prepared for college.  Life Academy, the first small high school opened in 2001-02 under the small schools policy, graduated 100% of its seniors, far surpassing district averages. On measures including California college and university eligibility and California High School exit Exam pass rates, the school outperformed its comparison high school and performed  slightly better than district averages, despite a higher than average number of English Learners.

[snip]

To read the rest of the case study go to PICO Nation Network Case Study (pdf)

For more information contact:
Oakland Community Organizations
7200 Bancroft Ave., #2, Eastmont Mall Upper Level
Oakland, CA  94605
(510) 639-1444
 www.oaklandcommunity.org

How Is My Child Doing In School?
Ten research-based ways to find out
by Ronald Dietel

Published in the March 2001 Issue of the National PTA's Our Children Magazine.
To view the whole document visit the PICO National Network website. 

       1.  Know what is expected
       2.  Know how well your child is reading
       3.  Understand test scores
       4.  Solicit teacher feedback
       5.  Familiarize yourself with your child's homework
       6.  Use a report card to identify overall progress
       7.  Stay attuned to social skills
       8.  Evaluate technology skills
       9.  Listen to your child
     10.  Pull it all together (keep a file)

How Important Is School Size? 
Which is better? Big or small? It all depends on what's a good fit for your child.
By Lisa Rosenthal, GreatSchools Senior Editor 

VER - Vermont has many small community schools, which we prize and wish to remain in the communities. With ever rising costs, how can small schools survive the onslaught of cost control? The survival of the small community school in Vermont will depend on many different factors. To decentralize the schools and create the kind of learning communities that we seem to want and need, will require that we look even deeper at what is we expect from education. The real question is why should it cost more?

Excerpt:

“What's the Right Size?

“When it comes to school size, there is no right size that works for every student. Some students thrive in a smaller environment where they get lots of attention, while others prefer the variety of activities and peer groups available in a larger school. Certainly, small and large schools each have their pros and cons.

“Small Schools, A Growing Trend

“In the 1960s the general thinking was that larger schools offered more comprehensive instructional programs of greater quality at lower costs than small schools (generally defined as schools of less than 400 to 500 students at the high school level) did. But in recent years researchers have discovered that the cost savings provided by large schools have had a negative effect on student achievement and graduation rates. As schools get bigger, student achievement declines and larger schools have higher rates of absenteeism, dropouts and discipline problems. In addition, "Dollars and Sense II," a 2005 study of 25 different small schools across the nation found that, on average, small schools spent 17 percent less per student than comparable schools in their districts while achieving equivalent or better results.

“As a result, there has been a growing trend toward creating small schools, and schools within schools, (particularly in high schools) to better engage students and give them more attention. The federal government has issued more than $837 million in experimental grants for small learning communities or "SLCs." As of 2005, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had committed more than $800 million to creating 2,000 small high schools around the country, and later in that year, along with the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, they committed an additional $32 million to further their efforts, particularly in urban areas.”

To find more read the full article at: GreatSchools.net

Commissioner Cate’s Report on Education Governance

Commissioner Richard Cate delivered a report on education governance to the Legislature on December 1st. This report was required by Act 82, section 19. Also delivered with this report were the recommendations from the VT-NEA, the Superintendents Association, and the School Boards Associations. This report is about consolidation of school districts and does not mention the consolidation of schools. There has been much in the news about this report and the concept of consolidation. Vermonters simply do not want to give up what control they have left with their local community schools through consolidation of the school districts. Who can blame them? Cate’s report also includes a school choice aspect and encouragement of more community control of schools.

Here are the links to the documents so that you can read for yourself what the education establishment is thinking:

The Commissioner’s Report - 2007 Report on Act 82. Section 19: An Act Relating to Education Quality and Cost Control

Appendix A: The Governance of Education in Vermont – 1777–2006

Appendix B: A Report on the Findings of a Vermont Department of Education Survey of the Public’s Beliefs Regarding Specific Methods to Govern Vermont’s Schools

Appendix C: A Report on the Vermont School Governance Public Engagement Process of 2006-2007

Appendix D: Educational Governance in the United States: A 2007 Report

Appendix E: Recommendations from the Vermont School Boards Association

Appendix F: Recommendations from the Vermont Superintendents Association

Appendix G: Recommendations from the Vermont-National Education Association

Appendix H: Summary of Public Law 2007, Chapter 240, Part XXXX

Reader Comment: Decentralize Education

Why does the state want to push/study ONLY consolidation? Why not study de-centralizing? 

Almost all the initial and historical reasons for centralization/unionization of schools and district are obsolete. Historically, lack of effective oversight of teachers and facilities was a prime reason for closing small elementary schools. Lack of providing adequate books and information was another. Certainly better roads and transportation and instantaneous communication have negated the first reason. The second is our now equalized funding. 

Certainly very few viable reasons for large centralized elementary schools now exist. Funding is supposedly equalized. Oversight of the most remote locations is simple. Transportation costs until high school could be minimized or zeroed, by requiring parents to deliver students to more widely spread, local elementary schools. The lack of a bus budget for elementary students alone would probably equal all the cost savings of increased district centralization. Then there are the savings on building costs. No need to build more high school space, if elementary and maybe middle school students are pulled back closer to home in smaller, cheaper, less complex buildings. 

I'm not trying to make a complete argument to save the smaller schools we have, but to explore decentralization.  What has unionization gotten us in Vermont so far... Right where we are? That's just perfect, right?

J.B. McKinley, Elmore

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