The long-term picture is still unclear.
Although many students enrolled in both four-year and two-year colleges, small school alumni did not complete community college in greater numbers than the comparison group. After six years, about 10 percent of students had earned an associate degree, about the same share as students who did not attend small schools. The researchers also found no difference in employment or wages.
There was one exception. Students enrolled in four-year colleges were more likely to complete their degree if they attended a small high school. About 15 percent of junior high school students earn a four-year degree within six years, compared to 12 percent of their peers.
Joel Klein was chancellor of New York City schools from 2002 to 2011 during the restructuring. Klein said the data showed the school’s small effort was important. He considers it one of his most important accomplishments, along with the expansion of charter schools. Closing high schools and replacing them with new ones requires political will, he said, as opposition from the teachers’ union erupted. Teachers were not guaranteed jobs at the new small schools and had to reapply or find another school to hire them.
New York was not the only city to experiment with small schools. Baltimore and Oakland, California, among others, have also used Gates Foundation money to test the concept. The results were not encouraging.
Klein says other cities have failed to replicate New York’s success because they simply split large schools into smaller units without building new cultures. In New York, prospective principals submitted detailed proposals, such as charter schools, and schools were gradually opened, adding one grade at a time.
There were unintended consequences in New York as well. During the transition years between the closing of the old school and the gradual rise of smaller schools, seats were few and far between. Enrollment at the remaining large schools in the city increased. While some students enjoy the closeness of the new small schools, many students suffer from overcrowding.
Whether due to political resistance, recurring challenges or changing public service priorities, the small school movement eventually fizzled out. By 2010, would-be reformers were focused on evaluating teacher effectiveness and school reform strategies.
Today, as enrollment rates decline in many districts, school consolidation, not expansion, dominates the conversation. MDRC’s Unterman said some districts are now exploring whether elements of the small school model — mentoring programs or “schools within schools” — can be recreated within larger campuses.
By all accounts, the small schools of New York City were a vast improvement over the established schools that replaced them. Most are still in operation, a testament to their staying power. However, the evidence they leave behind also emphasizes a hard truth. Improving high school can take away important milestones, such as getting more students to go to college. Changing the economic patterns of students may require a radical change.
This story about junior high schools was produced by The Hechinger reporta non-profit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Subscribe to Jill Barshay’s Evidence Points and so on Hechinger newsletters.
