Small Schools follow-up

In the paper this today, there's an article by Sarah Carr (following up on an earlier story, making me think this may be a series) on the first-quarter performance of some of the new small schools and "multiplexes" in the Milwaukee Public Schools. It is not all good news:

The high school reform movement in Milwaukee that led to the creation of Saddler's school is rooted in the concept of staying small, but it is experiencing some growing pains.

A new report on the initiative shows extreme variability, with many boasting attendance rates well above district averages, but some falling below. In general, the schools that struck out on their own are outperforming those that arose when an existing high school, such as Washington, was broken down into a multiplex of smaller schools.

Although overall they are making progress in areas such as attendance and suspensions, the small schools are having little luck thus far in keeping students at their schools from year to year. Last year, the stability rate--the percentage of students remaining enrolled between school years--for schools in the high school redesign was 51%, while for other high schools it was 65%.

I haven't seen the report Carr refers to--it's not anywhere on the district's web site--but the information she provides from it confirms what I have heard anecdotally and what I predicted would happen with the multiplexes. True, there is just a small window of data available, but what is there shows, as I said, for example, in this August post of mine, that a top-down, forced multiplexing of comprehensive high schools is the wrong way to do it, and that bottom-up small schools have a much greater chance of success.

One of the most persistent arguments among the staff in my own school against moving us toward a multiplex is that we should take a wait-and-see approach. The information we have right now suggests that our caution (okay, zealous opposition) is well-founded. By the end of the year--or after two or three years--we'll see some more data that could point to whether or not forced multiplexing is worthwhile.

It does seem now that my school is not on the list for multiplexing; we've joined the list for becoming "small learning communities." In fact, I think the multiplex transitions are all on hold pending more results from Marshall, Washington, and North Division. Let us hope, for everyone's sake, that the numbers get better.