By Dr. Bob Olson
- Superintendent Clarion/Goldfield/Dows
Are Small
Schools Worth Saving?
Why does Iowa need champions who promote legislation that recognizes the needs of small schools? Is
it because the voice of
small schools is too small? Is
it because the educational
experience in
small schools is inferior to large schools? Is
it because bigger
is better? Is
it because education
in small schools in rural Iowa is insignificant?
Size is relative.
I am a product
of a medium size school in our athletic conference. There were
only
2,500 students in our high
school. The largest
high school in the conference was
Rockford East with 4,000 students. I believe I received a good education, but it is unfair to say it was
better than any small high
school represented
in this room. Except for
a group of friends with
whom I associated, it was a pretty impersonal
place.
I would walk down the hallway and someone would
say,
“Hi
Bob”. I would
return the salutation, but after passing I would ask
my friend,
“Who
was that?” I don’t
think that is a problem in our rural schools in Iowa. In
fact,
not only do you know who
they are, they are probably related to 50% of the students in the high school, including you.
Large schools in some places recognize the value of community. Some have
created “Schools
within a school” to capitalize on some
of the advantages of having a close knit community.
I truly believe our
biggest hurdle in overcoming the stigma of being inferior to
larger schools is ignorance.
I remember
a legislative conference organized by the Iowa Association of School Boards that included
a panel of legislators
in positions of leadership. One such legislator
addressed issues specific to
education
including her bias that small
schools are unable to provide the educational opportunities possible in large schools. Her comments were saturated with
the tenor that education in small schools are inferior
and we should reduce the number of school
districts in the state to about 109. Since this
was a panel and we were afforded the opportunity to ask questions,
I could not resist
asking this person, “When was the last time you were in a small
high school?” I appreciated
her honesty when she shared
never, but it raised a few eyebrows.
I believe it
is fair to say that
there is a prejudice against small schools. Like other forms of
prejudice, I believe it is largely due to
not understanding the target of prejudice. My experience with this legislator
supports this observation. This person
wasn’t mean-spirited.
I am
thankful she was
willing to serve as a legislator.
It is a huge sacrifice. But I don’t believe she
would support legislation
friendly to small
schools until she was educated that rural schools play an important
role in educating students in Iowa.
Do students in
rural Iowa receive an inferior
educational experience? Does
the number of course offerings accurately measure
a quality educational experience? Does
the educational experience
include all curricular and co-curricular opportunities?
In small
schools, if students are not willing to be involved in a number of activities, those activities
don’t happen. I would
submit that students in small schools actually have more opportunities than their large school
counterparts.
Students in small schools can’t specialize in
one sport or musical area;
they
have
to do
it all.
I conducted a study of
students in various school sizes
and factors that appear to play a role in their
academic performance. I looked at
attendance, reading, television
viewing, working, homework, co-curricular participation and
adherence to rules. There were only two
areas that had
a significant relationship
to academic performance. The weaker of
the two was adherence to rules. That
seems logical. Students who stay out of trouble tend to perform better in the classroom.
Of those remaining, I was
surprised to learn that academic performance had
no significant relationship with their attendance, number of hours students
did homework, watched
television, worked
at a job or even the time spent reading. The strongest positive
relationship
to academic performance was participation in co-curricular activities. The busier students
were, the better they seemed to do in school.
Now if that is true,
and it is supported in other studies
of student academic performance,
which
students are able to participate in more activities, students in small schools or large schools? Don’t
discount the value of an
education that places students in a variety of activities, especially if they are not
particularly gifted
in the activities in which
they
participate. There is value
in being placed in an uncomfortable situation
with performance tasks
that are challenging. There is
value in recognizing how you
can
contribute to a team and what
role you can play to accomplish
goals
in a collaborative setting. There is something to be said about
providing an educational experience that equips
students
to be a jack-of-all-trades,
even
if they are not
a master of any.
It makes
for a well-rounded student
who was afforded the opportunity to participate
in a number of activities. In this regard, I have concerns that
large schools
are
not able to provide
the same opportunities to participate
in a number of activities to the same degree as small schools.
How do we go about
having legislators approve legislation that recognizes the needs of small schools?
1.
First, we need
to educate those who don’t understand education
in the small school.
There
is little chance that the legislator of
whom I spoke of earlier would
ever approve small school friendly legislation until she appreciates the important role small
schools play in Iowa.
2.
Second, create
alliances with other groups who wish to pass legislation that addresses needs
for their group
and small schools.
Three that come immediately to
mind are transportation, flexibility with the
use of the management
fund and operational
sharing. Western
Dubuque isn’t a small school, but they have concerns
with the cost of transportation
drawing down the general
fund. More
flexibility with the
management fund, including being allowed
to fund benefits for all
retirees over the age of 55. Small
schools have been sharing for years.
Operational sharing encourages collaboration when multiple schools are able to be
more efficient together
than separately.
3.
Thirdly,
if there are groups who
oppose our legislation, we need to focus on strengthening
our position rather than wasting time fighting with
others. You never know
when
we will need this group when we agree on other
legislation.
This isn’t the first time
small schools organized
into a group to support education in rural Iowa. There was a group that
formed
in April of 1977 that was active up
until the late 80’s or early
90’s. It was
named PURE, People United for Rural
Education. The need
to support small rural schools
hasn’t changed.
However
if advocacy for small
schools exists, it does
so with participation of
its members. We also
need to work with others who
can
effectively champion
causes friendly to
small schools. This may be informal or formal. This group needs
to seriously consider hiring a lobbyist who can effectively articulate and persuade legislators to vote for bills that
support students who are educated in small rural school districts.
In conclusion, small schools play an important
role
in the education
of students in Iowa. We
need legislation that addresses the needs of small
schools and supports the
ability to provide their students with a quality education.
