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Executive SummaryMore than $20 billion a year currently is being spent to construct public schools. Hundreds of billions are beingspent to carry out public education. Everyone wants the best possible use of that money. Families want safe,nurturing, challenging, and effective schools for their children. Community members and policy-makers wantschools to be successful, and to make efficient use of their tax dollars, regardless of how much is spent. This booklet isdesigned to help make those things happen, by giving readers opportunities to learn from some of the most effective,innovative district and charter public schools in the country.We can make significant progress toward what Americans want by using ideas from the finest small schools andschools that share facilities. This report combines profiles of district and charter public schools from all over the UnitedStates with a research summary, showing how educators and community members have created these schools.Because more than 50,000 people “downloaded” or purchased a copy of the original, 2001 report, we have revisedand updated this edition.The report provides brief case studies of 22 public school buildings in 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado,Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas. These buildings house almost50 schools and social service agencies. The profiles that follow represent urban, suburban, and rural communitiesthroughout the United States. These schools serve a vast array of youngsters. They are united in their ability to improveachievement and behavior in safe, nurturing, stimulating environments.The key conclusions of this report are:1. <strong>Smaller</strong> schools, on average, can provide• a safer place for students• a more positive, challenging environment• higher achievement• higher graduation rates• fewer discipline problems• much greater satisfaction for families, students, and teachers.2. <strong>Schools</strong> that share facilities with other organizations can offer7a• broader learning opportunities for students• high quality services to students and their families• higher student achievement and better graduation rates• ways to stretch and make more efficient use of tax dollars.Of course, not every small school is terrific. And being small is notenough – that’s why the profiles describe key elements of the schools, alongwith being small.We believe, and we hope, that this is an encouraging useful report.These schools show how to provide much more effective education for students.And they help show how small schools and those that share facilitiescan be much more satisfying places for teachers. This is a critical issue as thenation considers how to attract and retain teachers.This is not a report about educational theory. It is a study about howreal, existing schools can help the nation offer saner, safer, smarter, betterpublic education."The value of small schools has beenconfirmed with a clarity and a levelof confidence rare in the annals ofeducation research." (Raywid) Photoillustration, 5a: KIPP School in NewYork, 6a: Withrow University HighSchool in Cincinnati is a classicexample of a large district schoolthat was not successful until itreopened as a cluster of smallschools; 7a: Arizona Agribuisinessand Equine Science Center, Phoeniz,Arizona. All are featured in this report.7
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