Are Smaller Learning Community High Schools Better?: A Comparison of Smaller Learning Community High Schools and Traditional High Schools on Academic Achievement

In recent years, smaller learning community high schools have emerged as an answer to the disparity in academic achievement between ethnicities of students in large high schools. Smaller learning community high schools are usually implemented within large high schools through federal or state grants that are allocated to divide the large high schools into smaller, more personalized learning environments. This study compared 12 smaller learning community high schools with 12 traditional high schools and examined student academic achievement at both schools. Small schools generally outperform large schools on numerous academic performance indicators, however; this analysis revealed that there were no significant differences in student performance between smaller learning community high schools and traditional high schools. Math and English assessment scores were utilized and disaggregated by ethincity to examine student performance for all students. This study did reveal and confirm the achievement gap that still exists between Caucasian students and their minority peers.