High schools small enough to know every student by name
The Oregon Small Schools Initiative was a seven year partnership that helped Oregon communities convert large comprehensive high schools and open new small schools, with one aim held steady throughout: equally strong outcomes for every learner, whatever their background.
What the Initiative set out to change
Oregon entered the twenty first century with a familiar problem. Progress in the early grades was real, yet too many students still left high school without a diploma, and the students most often left behind were those from low income families, students of color, and students still learning English. The Initiative was built on three commitments that shaped every decision that followed.
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Close the achievement gap
Schools were asked to track outcomes for students who had historically been underserved, and to treat any gap in results as a problem with the school rather than with the student.
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Raise graduation rates across the board
Raising the average was not enough. Improvement had to show up for every group of students, not only those already on track to graduate.
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Send more graduates to college ready for the work
Students were to leave high school prepared for credit bearing college coursework, for technical credentials, and for careers that pay a family wage.
The shape of the effort
Over seven years the Initiative worked alongside district and school leaders, coaches, and teachers. The figures below describe the reach of that partnership.
- 42Small high schools created through conversions and new starts
- 13Oregon districts that took part
- $28MContributed by the Initiative's two funding partners
- 25,000+Students who attended Initiative schools
What schools put into practice
Small size was treated as a starting condition, never as the finish line. Schools used the room it created to redesign instruction, share leadership, and connect learning to the community around them. These approaches were documented and shared openly.
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Arts integration
Music, visual art, drama and writing used as working pathways into other subjects, so that understanding grows in more than one direction at once.
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Learning through projects and expeditions
Long form investigations that begin with a real question and end with work presented to an audience beyond the classroom.
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Shared leadership
Decisions moved closer to the people they affect, with teachers, students and families taking part in governance rather than receiving it.
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Evidence that guides teaching
A dedicated data practice let schools compare results across the network and act on what the numbers revealed about their own students.
Looking back, and what remains
The Initiative concluded in June 2010, but its materials were not shelved. The tools, protocols and rubrics developed with schools were released as open resources so that districts of any size could adapt them. Independent analysis of student results continued after the Initiative closed, adding to a national body of research on what small schools can accomplish.
This site preserves that record. It is organised around three threads: the background of the Initiative, the schools and results it produced, and the tools it left behind.
Where to begin
New to the work? Start with Oregon's education challenge, then follow the story through goals and history. Educators looking for practical material can go straight to the Initiative Toolkit.