scholarly journals Small schools and the pressure to consolidate.

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aimee Howley ◽  
Craig Howley
Keyword(s):  
Small Schools ◽  
Small School ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Small School Reform ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Shared Commitment ◽  
Urban Places

Positioned in relationship to reform literature calling for small schools “by design” and interpreting data from a case study of a high performing but low-SES district in a Midwestern state, this paper provides a basis for making sense of the apparent divergence in policies governing schooling structures in rural and urban places. Its interpretation examines the way educational reformers work to valorize a multidimensional set of practices constituting “small school reform.” This reform package is, ironically, to some extent unrelated to what is actually taking place naturally in small schools and districts, where more “traditional” practices are said to be more common. Reformers often regard such practices as deficient, but that judgment seems to disregard empirical findings about school and district size, which typically show that smaller scale itself confers advantages across locales. Moreover, they overlook dynamics such as those revealed in this case study, which demonstrate how smaller scale promotes a close-knit family atmosphere as well as shared commitment to a set of core values. In addition, with smaller scale come structural arrangements that support an ethos of self-sufficiency and openness to “outsiders”—transient as well as open-enrollment students. These dynamics enable a small district to weather substantial threats to its existence.

Small High Schools on a Larger Scale: The Impact of School Conversions in Chicago

2008 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph E. Kahne ◽  
Susan E. Sporte ◽  
Marisa de la Torre ◽  
John Q. Easton
Keyword(s):  
High Schools ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Small Schools ◽  
Outcome Data ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Small School ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Small High Schools ◽  
Small School Reform ◽  
The Impact

This study examines 4 years of small school reform in Chicago, focusing on schools formed by converting large traditional high schools into small autonomous ones. Analyzing systemwide survey and outcome data, the authors assess the assumptions embedded in the reform’s theory of change. They find that these schools are characterized by more collegial and committed teacher contexts and more academically and personally supportive student contexts. There is some evidence of decreased dropout rates and increased graduation rates for the first cohort of students but not for the second cohort. The authors do not find stronger instruction, nor do they find student achievement has improved. They discuss implications for reformers and policy makers who are interested in small schools in particular and high school reform in general.

scholarly journals Under What Conditions Do Rural Schools Learn From their Partners?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 65-81
Author(s):  
Hilde Forfang ◽  
Jan Merok Paulsen
Keyword(s):  
School Improvement ◽  
Small School ◽  
High Performing Schools ◽  
Collective Case Study ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Learning Capacity ◽  
External Sources ◽  
Administrative Units ◽  
Collaborative Structures

This case study was designed to explore the strategies and actions that high performing schools with sustainable results employ at the district level in a rural part of Norway. The district subjected to the study is characterised by small municipalities and a scattered population, with a few small school administrative units, which might be a challenging context for sustainability and improvement. In response, the districts developed collaborative structures to increase collective learning capacity. The research design involved a collective case study, and it draws on data from interviews with school leaders at the municipal level and local school policy documents. The findings suggest that Norwegian school district actors can facilitate school improvement by shaping collaborating cultures, inter-organisational learning processes and educational infrastructures. Furthermore, the findings highlight the schools’ ability to recognise and value new knowledge from external sources, such as academic institutions and partner schools, assimilate novelties across boundaries and, eventually, utilise these for strategic or operational ends to enhance an organisation’s absorptive capacity. Finally, the findings indicate that superintendents can play important roles through boundary-spanning and gatekeeping activities.

scholarly journals Intertwining Christian Mission, Theology, and History: A Case Study of the Basel Mission among the Thiyyas and Badagas of Kerala, 1870–1913

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Tiasa Basu Roy
Keyword(s):  
Caste System ◽  
Word Of God ◽  
Christian Mission ◽  
Mission Theology ◽  
The People ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
History Of ◽  
Medical Aids ◽  
Basel Mission

For centuries, various denominations of Christian missionaries have contributed in a larger way towards the spread of Christianity among the people of Indian sub-continent. Each Church had its own principles of preaching the word of God and undertook welfare activities in and around the mission-stations. From establishing schools to providing medical aids, the Christian missionaries were involved in constant perseverance to improve the ‘indigenous’ societies not only in terms of amenities and opportunities, but also in spiritual aspects. Despite conversion being the prime motive, every Mission prepared ground on which their undertakings found meanings and made an impact over people’s lives. These endeavours, combining missiological and theological discourses, brought hope and success to the missionaries, and in our case study, the Basel Mission added to the history of the Christian Mission while operating in the coastal and hilly districts of Kerala during the 19th and the 20th centuries. Predominantly following the trait of Pietism, the Basel Mission emphasised practical matters more than doctrine, which was evident in the Mission activities among the Thiyyas and the Badagas of Malabar and Nilgiris, respectively. Along with addressing issues like the caste system and spreading education in the ‘backward’ regions, the most remarkable contribution of the Basel Mission established the ‘prototype’ of industries which was part of the ‘praxis practice’ model. It aimed at self-sufficiency and provided a livelihood for a number of people who otherwise had no honourable means of subsistence. Moreover, conversion in Kerala was a combination of ‘self-transformation’ and active participation which resulted in ‘enculturation’ and inception of ‘modernity’ in the region. Finally, this article shows that works of the Basel Mission weaved together its theological and missiological ideologies which determined its exclusivity as a Church denomination.

Education for What?

1973 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
J. McMaster
Keyword(s):  
Small Schools ◽  
Small School ◽  
Special Situation ◽  
The People ◽  
Parents And Children ◽  
Multiple Cultures ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Working Alone ◽  
Successes And Failures

Let me first explain my situation. All the people in Duchess are involved in some way or another with the Queensland Railways. Duchess is a railway town, supported by the Queensland Railways and existing only because of them. The majority of settlers are Islanders, with a few Aboriginals. These people live harmoniously side by side. All the fathers have jobs. The children thus have the necessary monetary backing to encourage development. These people are not poor, though their conditions may indicate otherwise. All the children are clothed reasonably well, and fed reasonably well. Most of the children are scrupulously clean.It is wise to keep in mind the fact that regardless of what my successes and failures are, each one of us has a special situation, which differs vastly from everyone else’s. It is therefore necessary for us to be continually trying, adapting, and changing, in order to achieve any measure of success.In the small school, the teacher is faced with a number of problems which perhaps appear unique or magnified by virtue of the fact that he is on his own. Multiple grades, voluminous workloads multiple cultures, remoteness and lack of finance are amongst the greatest problems facing me personally, and no doubt many of you at present. But the small school also offers unique opportunities to teachers to experiment and implement new ideas and methods. The relative freedom of working alone offers unlimited scope for development in every field. Numbers are fewer, and parental contact is more practical and rewarding. In every field our freedom to work is limited only by our capacity. I believe that the small schools are more effective amongst these people, simply by virtue of the fact that contact and discussions with both parents and children are more intimate, and therefore more successful. Of course, initially they are shy, but eventually we can reach them, and once their confidence is gained, they will make every attempt to help us. This is a big advantage to have, and very necessary if any program is to achieve success.

High Performance Teams

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 72-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Dominguez ◽  
Isabel C. Moura ◽  
João Varajão
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Reward Systems ◽  
Team Management ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Team Members ◽  
High Performing ◽  
Exploratory Case Study ◽  
Performance Teams

Effective team management is one of the key factors that allow companies to tackle the challenges of today's demanding business environment. Although high-performing teams have been studied for some time, very little has been written on them from the construction industry's perspective. Based on the conclusions of previous work and on a project involving 44 professionals of seven teams, this exploratory case study intends to evaluate if there is a gap between what team members and leaders perceive as being (a) the most important features for managing teams into high performance and (b) the features that are present in their teams. The present study shows that, although teams under investigation had some high-performing features at the leadership dimension, there is room for improvement, in particular when it comes to empowering team members, involving them in planning the work, and creating proper reward systems.

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