"Is Size Crucial to School Improvement?".
School size is a major issue in the educational environment across the country. Ranging from 100 to 5,000, all high schools are different in matters of how many students attend the school. Many people think that small schools are a better environment for students to learn in, but then there are those who feel that there is more of a chance for the student to find what they are interested in at a bigger school. There are many sub-issues in the main issue of the size of the school such as class size, extra curricular activities, a larger choice of classes in bigger schools, the relationship between the student and the teacher, among many other issues. .
The size of a school is made out to be one of the most important issues in the field of education, but the size of the school should not matter, the quality of the education the students are getting while they are in the classrooms is the most important issue dealing with education. If you have 200 teachers or 35 teachers, they should all give 110% to their students. I think Irwin Kurtz said it best, "It's better to have one good teacher then two crummy teachers any day." By this he means that having one good teacher teach 35-40 students in a class then have two bad teachers teaching 15-20 students in a class, those students in the 35-40 kid size class will learn more and better. .
Those who support small schools feel that the students attending the smaller school, with no more than 600 students in the school, will learn more, learn better, and have a better relationship with the faculty in their school. In small schools it is more likely to have a low student/teacher ratio. In smaller classes there can be more individual instruction and the teacher can center more on the children that need the extra help. This is especially good for those types of students who are slower to learn material and students with learning disabilities.