HIGH-SCHOOL SIZE - WHICH WORKS BEST AND FOR WHOM

The study described in this article investigates the relationship betw een high school size and student learning. We used three waves of data from NELS:88 and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) methods to examin e how students' achievement growth in two subjects (reading and mathem atics) over the high school years is influenced by the size of the hig h school they attend. Three research questions guided the study: (a) W hich size high school is most effective for students' learning?, (b) I n which size high school is learning most equitably distributed?, and (c) Are size effects consistent across high schools defined by their s ocial compositions? Results suggest that the ideal high school, define d in terms of effectiveness (i.e., learning), enrolls between 600 and 900 students. In schools smaller than this, students learn less; those in large high schools (especially over 2,100) learn considerably less . Learning is more equitable in very small schools, with equity define d by the relationship between learning and student socioeconomic statu s (SES). An important finding from the study is that the influence of school size on learning is different in schools that enroll students o f varying SES and in schools with differing proportions of minorities. Enrollment size has a stronger effect on learning in schools with low er-SES students and also in schools with high concentrations of minori ty students. Implications for educational policy are discussed.