Teachers and students help each other. The classroom climate changes. Starts Small, Achilles notes that teachers are better able to individualize programs for students, vary reading instruction, increase time on task, and bond with students. Because parents are more likely to get involved with school when their children are assigned to smaller classes, teachers also make more use of volunteer time. In addition to highlighting research, Achilles also quotes extensively from teachers.
All children have the opportunity to be honored each day.
In making a case for small schools, Meier does not mean tearing down existing facilities. Olson, a senior editor at Education Week , takes readers inside high schools across the country that are taking new approaches to preparing students for life after graduation. Both schools are engaging students in real-world learning. Although the book is strong on reportorial detail and weaves in the opinions of experts, its strongest passages may be the conversations Olson has with teen-agers. Both extremes, of course, are well-represented in American high schools.