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The conversion of large urban high schools into small, focused learning centers is gaining currency as an education reform strategy.

This publication provides guidelines, along with guiding questions, for those considering such a conversion. The first section explores the structural, organizational, and political challenges involved in converting large high schools into identifiable, autonomous learning communities.

It begins with a discussion of the advantages of "small." It continues with an examination of the experiences of some large schools that have broken into small learning communities but have failed to produce the desired results. From these efforts have emerged eight strategies, which the guide presents in detail. The second section of the guide explores the challenges that emerge once a school has reorganized into small units. It looks at how these units stay focused on the combination of effective learning principles and practices that "small" makes possible. It presents examples of routines and best practices from successful small schools, alternative schools, and youth-development programs. Finally, the guide presents a tool, "the five Cs," for blending youth development approaches with contextual and authentic learning to create effective learning environments. 27p.

What is Meant by "Large" and "Small" Schools http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/10/c020.html

There is no clear agreement on the dividing line between small and large schools.—Davant T. Williams, 1990 "One might note that the term 'small school' has no concrete numerical limits," write Green and Stevens (1988, 11). One certainly might. In the first place, of the 69 key reports, only 27 mention any numbers at all in their analyses of large versus small schools. In the second place, the upward limit for a "small" school in those 27 documents ranges from 200 to 1,000 students; and the range for a "large" school is 300 to 5,000 students. Williams, however, writes that,

On average, the research indicates that an effective size for an elementary school is in the range of 300-400 students and that 400-800 students is appropriate for a secondary school (7-8). While many researchers argue that no school should be larger than 400 or 500 students, I use Williams's numbers in this report, since my own sense of the research is very similar to his.