Sizing Up Schooling: A West Virginia Analysis and Critique. Dissertation (Synopsis).

Autor/in	Howley, Craig B.
Titel	Sizing Up Schooling: A West Virginia Analysis and Critique. Dissertation (Synopsis).
Quelle	(1996), (12 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Hochschulschrift; Dissertation; Academic Achievement; County School Districts; Elementary Secondary Education; Politics of Education; Rural Schools; School Closing; School District Size; School Size; Small Schools; Socioeconomic Status; State Government; West Virginia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Thesis; Dissertations; Academic thesis; Schulleistung; Educational policy; Bildungspolitik; Rural area; Rural areas; School; Schools; Ländlicher Raum; Schule; Schulen; School closings; Schließung; Schließung (von Schulen); School district; School districts; Size; Schuleinzugsbereich; Socio-economic status; Sozioökonomischer Status; Bund-Länder-Beziehung
Abstract	This dissertation synopsis examines the relationship of school size to the achievement of students of varying levels of socioeconomic status in West Virginia and investigates motives for consolidation in this mostly rural state. To control for varying grade-span configurations, size (of school and district) was defined as enrollment per grade level in 1990. Other data included percentage of students receiving free and reduced-price meals; percentage of adults in each county district with less than 12th-grade education; and Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills scores for grades 3, 6, 9, and 11. Multivariate analyses, both at school and district levels, revealed a consistent, statistically significant interaction that replicated results of a similar 1988 California study. Results indicate that in 1990, before the onset of state-enforced consolidation, small schools and districts enhanced the achievement of poor students in West Virginia, whereas large schools and districts enhanced the achievement of affluent students. The negative effects of large size among impoverished schools and districts were twice the magnitude of positive effects of large size for affluent schools and districts. Negative effect sizes were larger at higher grade levels. Drawing on such critical theorists as Eagleton and Habermas, a critique of political economic circumstances in the late 1980s suggests that a crisis of legitimation led the State to take forceful action to restore public confidence, especially the confidence of influential corporations. School consolidation in the name of improved educational efficiency was the rigorous action undertaken. As a result, small schools closed widely, and a disproportionate net loss of schools was suffered in rural locales and less affluent communities. (SV)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC