Small School Advantages
November 2007

      Chapin is, and forever will be, a small school.  With a cap on enrollment by Board of Trustee policy, Chapin has made a firm and strong commitment to remaining a small school.  Despite the significant financial advantages of increasing the size of the school, Chapin has refused to succumb to the alluring temptation to grow.  Why has Chapin taken such an unwavering stand on the size of the school?   While it seems intuitively obvious that small schools provide clear and distinct advantages, there is also a growing body of research validating the multiple benefits of small schools.

      In an article entitled, “School Size, School Climate and Student Performance”, Kathleen Cotton summarizes her review of 103 research studies that identify a relationship between school size and some aspect of education.  In evaluating the benefits of small schools, Cotton notes that, while there is no concrete agreement on what defines a small school, “on average, the research indicates that an effective size for an elementary school is in the range of 300-400 students.”

      After reviewing the research, Cotton catalogues the advantages of small schools:

1.   …“Student achievement in small schools is at least equal- and often superior – to student achievement in large schools.”  (Achievement measures in the research include grades, test scores, honor roll, subject-area achievements and assessments of high-order thinking skills.)

2.   The research on student attitudes toward school in general and toward specific subjects overwhelmingly favors small schools over large ones.

3.   Studies indicate that “small schools have lower incidences of negative social behavior, however measured, than do large schools.”

4.   …“Levels of extracurriculur participation are significantly higher in small schools than in large ones.”  Researchers also found that “students in small schools are involved in a greater variety of activities and that they derive more satisfaction from their participation than students in large schools.”

5.   Small schools have high attendance rates.

6.   Students in small schools feel “a much greater sense of belonging” than students in large ones.

7.   “Student academic and general self-concepts are higher in small schools than in large ones.”

8.   “Positive correlations between small schools and favorable interpersonal relations have been found.”          

      The benefits of small schools are clear and compelling, reinforcing   Chapin’s commitment to remain small.   Chapin is, and will forever be, a small school.