Inside large and small high schools: Curriculum and social relations

This paper investigates how enrollment size influences two organizational f eatures of schools: curriculum and social relations. We interview teachers, principals, guidance counselors, and students in six public high schools ( large and small schools in urban suburban, and rural locations) and three s chools of choice: two Catholic schools (one large, one small) and a small p ublic school. All school members saw size as important. In small schools, s tudent head counts translated directly into revenue that "bought" faculty a nd facilities. In large schools, members worried about anonymity. Social re lations were more personal in the small high schools, although sometimes to students' detriment. Curriculum offerings in the small public schools nece ssarily modest, were targeted toward the middle of the ability distribution . Although students in the large and small public schools were free to choo se among a broad away of courses, the Catholic high schools offered a mostl y academic curriculum to all students. Policy issues, especially about maki ng schools smaller and basing the high school curriculum on a full "student choice model." are discussed.