A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR RELEASE
October 4, 2000

Contact:
Melinda Ulloa
(202) 205-8811

SMALLER IS BETTER: NEW GRANTS TO HELP PERSONALIZE AMERICA'S LARGE HIGH SCHOOLS

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today announced the award of $42.3 million in grants to help large high schools create smaller, more personalized learning communities.

"In smaller high schools, students can get to know their classmates and teachers better," Riley said. "It's these personal connections that can be so important to success in school. Size matters. We know that students thrive in smaller school settings."

Research has shown that students have better attendance, are less likely to dropout, exhibit fewer discipline problems, and perform better when attending a smaller high school.

However, more than 70 percent of high school students attend schools with more than 1,000 students; half attend schools with more than 1,500 students. Riley said young people are more likely to feel isolated in such large schools.

Known as the Smaller Learning Communities Program, the grants will help high schools with 1,000 or more students to plan, develop and implement strategies that personalize the learning environment for students.

Among strategies schools might employ are:

• career academies which offer students academic programs organized around a broad career theme. Classes directly relate to work the student has undertaken during the school year;

• mentoring and other teacher-advisory systems in which teachers, counselors, other school staff, volunteers, and employees who work with the student serve as mentors to help students on an individual basis. Advisory activities may include helping students develop personal learning plans, introducing them to career possibilities, helping them choose which classes to take, and helping students plan for attending college or a university;

• schools-within-schools and "houses" which operate within existing schools, reporting directly to the school district and not to the school principal. These programs have their own staff, students and budget. In addition, house programs have their own student activities, student government, disciplinary policies and social activities;

• career clusters which help students by mapping out a curriculum that would provide the academic and technical education necessary for their particular field.

The Smaller Learning Communities Program has awarded school districts in 39 states $8.7 million in one-year planning grants and $33.6 million in three-year implementation grants. A total of 354 schools, serving over 400,000 high school students, will benefit during the first year of this program.

President Clinton has requested $120 million in his 2001 budget to develop small, safe, and successful high schools.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Following is a list of grantees. Additional information is available online at http://www.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/HS/SLCP/.

Smaller Learning Communities Program
FY00 Grantees

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