The Small Size Concept, that Achieves Big Results

by Harry Hopkins III

In business or the public sector, the size of an organization can make all the difference in

how quickly it can change and adapt new ideas to an incredibly dynamic world. I believe that in

educating students with diverse abilities and backgrounds, small can also be better. At the

Concept School (TCS) just such a dynamic school exists---small classes, student

leadership/mentoring opportunities between middle school and high school, and a highly

integrated interdisciplinary program. As a teacher at The Concept School, I've had the

wonderful opportunity to both witness and contribute in the effectiveness of the Small Size

Concept.

Often students attend large schools where classrooms can number 20 to 30 or even more

students. The ability of a teacher to understand a student and adapt a lesson for that specific

student is difficult, with high classroom numbers. The teacher of a classroom with a large

number of students is hard pressed to continuously access and provide feedback to their students

at a tempo that enhances a students learning.

A TCS classroom size averages a ratio of eight students to one teacher. This small ratio

allows a TCS teacher the opportunity to focus and understand their individual student's

motivations, abilities and learning preferences---thus enabling the development of specifically

targeted lesson plans. This small classroom size also allows time, on a regular basis , to work one-

on-one with a student ---accessing their understanding and giving them continuous and timely

specific feedback on their progress.

 The small size of my math classes has allowed me to tightly track, access and guide my

students in a way that would be much more challenging in a larger size class. Much of my time in

class is spent guiding and coaching students as they engage math problems or activities. Time

with lecturing and instructing to the class is minimized and a student's actual experience with

addressing the math is maximized. Students are also engaged in checking and correcting their

answers. This serves to increase their accountability and role in addressing their learning style.

A quiz is given for each skill mastered (usually a textbook section.) So a chapter with five to ten

sections would yield five to ten short quiz assessments of the students. This high frequency of

quizzes might prove labor intensive for a larger classroom, but is very manageable in the small

classes of TCS. It gives students a quick/high rate of feedback on their understanding of the

material. This has increased their confidence and allowed learning issues to be addressed quickly

and comprehensively.

A low student to teacher ratio also allows a teacher to take advantage of the special

interests and creative ideas of students. For example in a Computer class I had students work on

individual spreadsheet projects that connected to their specific interests, like roller coasters and

baseball. The TCS small class size also allows a spontaneous redirection in a lesson plan when a

new idea or learning opportunity arises. Case in point, after working on a internet based

research project on computer pioneers, one of my students had the idea of creating a set of

computer pioneer trading cards using graphics software with information from the internet.

With a large class, redirecting an assignment and providing new guidance and instruction on the

fly would be a Herculean effort. The small class size of TCS made it easy.

TCS is also a fertile ground to foster leadership and mentoring opportunities for students

because of her overall size and small classrooms. The small size of TCS classes and their close
proximity, allows TCS to match younger students with older student mentors. This relationship

can give the younger student a successful model to emulate and strategies to better develop their

learning styles. Leadership opportunities exist at TCS on the classroom level as well.

A class-to-class leadership approach in instructing has been very successful. My high

school chemistry class recently developed and taught a practical hands on lesson showing the

growing of crystals by way of a supersaturated liquid to our middle school science class. The

middle school students enjoyed the lab and instruction created by their upper school classmates.

For the high school students, the lesson execution not only reinforced their chemistry

understanding, but provided an opportunity for the development of their leadership skills. A

separate middle and high school, which most public schools operate would make such a joint

venture more challenging and time consuming.

The small size concept may be most effective in our school's ability to have a truly

integrated staff—administration and teachers from all disciplines. While working in a larger

more traditional school it was not uncommon for me to deal exclusively with other math teachers.

I hardly ever talked with school administration or teachers from other disciplines (e.g. English,

Social Studies, etc.) Such “stove-piping” can create blind-spots in a teacher's knowledge of their

students. At TCS, the “whole school” is the student's team. A student's progress and

development is discussed among the staff on a daily basis. This enables the staff to not only keep

current on a specific student's progress, but to address significant student issues in a consistent

and timely manner.

A small integrated staff also allows material to be connected from different disciplines

with much greater ease than a larger school. For example special classes have been organized
and effectively run through team-teaching. This approach is easily organized because of the

small size and close proximity of the staff. Classes in anthropology, and criminal justice, both

taught by social studies and science teachers, is an example of this type of classe taught at TCS.

Students greatly benefit from this dual perspective teaching. Their attention is held from the

variety of teaching approaches and they begin to understand that subject areas can span over

more then one discipline. These cross-discipline connections can be identified and developed

because of the daily teacher interchange.

Perhaps the biggest success of TCS's inter-disciplinary approach is the school wide

participation once or twice a year, in putting on a theatrical performance. This past year two

such productions were successfully performed. Scenes from “A Midsummer Nights Dream” by

Shakespeare and “The Wizard of OZ” by Frank Baum were produced by a school wide

production team of student performers and stage designers. These productions transformed the

entire school through action and appearance in reflecting the themes of the production (i.e. Our

school performance room was transformed into Shakespeare's Globe Theater.) Students, facility,

and parents came together in a strong community building exercise. Students experienced

history, art, engineering, and real life problem solving. They develop pride in their school and

own efforts and learn to work cooperatively as a team.

The small size concept with small classes within a small school setting can significantly

improve the learning environment for all students. Smaller classes give teachers time and space

needed to establish a relationship in which specific lesson activities can offered to a given student

with continuous and timely feedback. A small school also provides positive connections between

the middle and high school students. Students in leadership and mentor roles can help other

students as well as themselves. A small, highly integrated staff enables the whole school to act on
behalf of a given student and provide consistent and timely support. A small school can also

foster interdisciplinary connections and bring the learning community together through

individual and group efforts in developing and executing school projects such as theatrical

performances. The “Small size concept that achieves big results” is an approach worthy of serious

consideration for all students.