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Big School, Small School: (Re)Testing Assumptions about High School Size, School Engagement and Mathematics Achievement

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Abstract

In an effort to increase both adolescents’ engagement with school and academic achievement, school districts across the United States have created small high schools. However, despite the widespread adoption of size reduction reforms, relatively little is known about the relationship between size, engagement and outcomes in high school. In response, this article employs a composite measure of engagement that combines organizational, sociological, and psychological theories. We use this composite measure with the most recent nationally-representative dataset of tenth graders, Educational Longitudinal Study: 2002, (N = 10,946, 46% female) to better assess a generalizable relationship among school engagement, mathematics achievement and school size with specific focus on cohort size. Findings confirm these measures to be highly related to student engagement. Furthermore, results derived from multilevel regression analysis indicate that, as with school size, moderately sized cohorts or grade-level groups provide the greatest engagement advantage for all students and that there are potentially harmful changes when cohorts grow beyond 400 students. However, it is important to note that each group size affects different students differently, eliminating the ability to prescribe an ideal cohort or school size.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences (QMSS), Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP), Columbia University, 420 West 118th Street, Room 811, Mail Code 3355, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Christopher C. Weiss

  2. College of Staten Island, The City University of New York, Building 3S-224, 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY, 10314, USA

    Brian V. Carolan

  3. Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences (QMSS), Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP), Columbia University, 420 West 118th Street, Room 820, Mail Code 3355, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    E. Christine Baker-Smith

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  1. Christopher C. Weiss
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  2. Brian V. Carolan
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  3. E. Christine Baker-Smith
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Correspondence to Christopher C. Weiss.

Appendix

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Table 7 Multilevel regression analysis of engagement with demographic characteristics, by school size (N = 10,946)
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Weiss, C.C., Carolan, B.V. & Baker-Smith, E.C. Big School, Small School: (Re)Testing Assumptions about High School Size, School Engagement and Mathematics Achievement. J Youth Adolescence 39, 163–176 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-009-9402-3

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