Over the past several decades West Virginia has closed scores of small, locally-based schools (primarily high schools), as part of district-level consolidation. These consolidations have affected families and students in numerous ways. Most notably, students living in outlying towns are now required to travel much longer distances to reach…

In March 2005, Governor Tom Vilsack and a committee of 12 legislators endorsed proposals intended to "make Iowa's public schools more efficient and improve achievement." Among the proposals was one calling for an education commission that would recommend to the 2007 Legislature a minimum school district and high school size. In light of these…

The Southern Rural High School Study Initiative seeks to identify high performing rural high schools in the South, engage education leaders in the region in analyzing the challenges faced by these schools and consider the public policies that might serve to transfer the lessons and strategies used by these schools to other small rural high schools…

This report describes the demographic and economic characteristics of Sicily Island, Louisiana and its schools, and discusses the ways in which teaching and learning have changed in Sicily Island schools since they embarked on a program of reform in the late 1990s. It examines the schools' improvement efforts and results through the lenses of the…

Shaw High School is one of two schools making up the Shaw School District. The school is located in an old and once majestic building whose large concrete pillars still stand at the entrance. A small white house across the street holds the district administrative office. Several buildings, detached from the main building, house the cafeteria,…