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American Morning

Movement to Break Up Large High Schools

Aired April 20, 2001 - 11:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The concept of "bigger schools are better schools" has been around quite some time in education circles. But after the Columbine massacre, Congress passed a bill to nurture smaller schools. Now, school districts in several parts of the country are making a move to set up learning centers where students don't get lost in the shuffle. We get more on this story from CNN's Kathy Slobogin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHY SLOBOGIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stamford High, the all-American high school. Principal Tony Pavia presides over nearly 2,000 students. The model of large comprehensive high school dates from 1950s when big was good, families were intact, and times were simpler.

TONY PAVIA, PRINCIPAL, STAMFORD HIGH SCHOOL: We're dealing with 1950s numbers with year 2001 demands. The school is taking on a much greater role than it did in the '50s and '60s where everything from clergy to parents to counselor to doctor.

SLOBOGIN: Once thought to be efficient, the large high school is now seen as a place where troubled students get lost. Pavia says he often meets students for the first time when they're in crisis.

PAVIA: As hard as you try to be out and about in the hallway, and as hard as you try to know the student body, I have to say there are many nights when I go home and I say, "Why didn't I know that student before today?"

SLOBOGIN: In high schools like this one in Connecticut, kids can become what one expert calls "tourist students," just passing through without connecting. Seventy percent of American high schoolers attend schools of more than 1,000 students. Many go to schools with 2,000 to 5,000 students.

CHRISTINE CASEY, ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT: I think that's sad. I think that experience of being one of 1,000 or one of 2,000 or one of 3,000 makes you anonymous.

SLOBOGIN: Assistant Superintendent Chris Casey says Stamford teachers face as many as 125 students a day.

CASEY: Humanly, how many relationships can you make and feed and maintain as one person? Not that many. Not 125. That's for sure.

SLOBOGIN: Now, a mountain of research and the shootings at mega- schools like Columbine and Santana, have fueled a new movement to breakup large schools. At least 1,500 high schools around the country are considering downsizing.

(on camera): The research is overwhelming. In small schools, violence and disruptive behavior go down. Attendance, graduation rates, and test scores go up. An extensive Education Department survey found that teachers in large schools were three times as likely to report weapons possession as a problem as those in small schools.

(voice-over): That kind of research has caused many educators to see smaller schools as an antidote to school shootings. Aided by a federal program to nurture small schools passed in the wake of Columbine, the Stamford School District will create eight small academies in each of its two existing high school buildings. Stamford set up its first academy with computer technology theme last fall.

James Simon, a senior at the academy, credits academy teachers with pushing him to apply to college. He's been accepted to two.

JAMES SIMON, SENIOR: You know every teacher. Every teacher knows you. You go to Westville or Stamford High or any other high school, you see a different teacher every day. And they're always saying, "Oh, how are you doing?" But here, it's, "How are you doing, James?"

SLOBOGIN: Small schools are not a panacea. There are tradeoffs, like a less extensive curriculum. And they can cost more.

CASEY: Absolutely. But what is the value of the investment? If we can make a productive citizen, if we can make somebody that goes off to college or goes off to the world of work and becomes somebody who adds to society's value, I think that the cost is very low.

SLOBOGIN: And the risk very high, says Casey, if we continue to let isolated students get lost in the shuffle.

Kathy Slobogin, CNN, Washington.

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