(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
So hidden deep in the NAEP data explorer is a variable for school enrollment. Yesterday we saw how Arizona charter schools crushed the ball on the 2015 NAEP science exams, but I was curious- would there be evidence suggesting that small schools of choice perform especially well? NAEP provides such a number in a crosstab for Arizona charter/district by school enrollment. Small district schools in Arizona performance is nothing to write home about, and are probably mostly rural. Arizona’s small charter schools-schools of choice-however, well, that is a different story. These are the 8th grade science NAEP scores for Arizona charter schools with 399 or fewer students compared to statewide averages for all students:
I thought that was interesting, so I checked to see how this would look in the 2015 NAEP Reading exam for 8th graders. Well-
Well but the whole thing would fall apart in the math test. Except, it didn’t:
Obviously this evidence is only suggestive, but do keep in mind that we have a large number of formal studies finding positive outcomes associated with attendance at small high schools. So perhaps high quality education involves authentic community with a shared vision of what constitutes high quality learning, and this process is facilitated by the ability of a child and parent to choose. It certainly appears to be the case out here in the Cactus Patch. Let’s call it the “Cheers theory of learning” in that you want to go where everybody knows your name. If that is you want to learn to read, figure some math, and understand science. If you prefer to fade into the background and then drop out of school- we’ve got plenty of Big Box schools to choose from as well.
So you see dare Normy dare used to be this big Foundation that had a great idea but then…
Jay P. Greene's Blog 
Thanks for sharing this. Yes, LOTS of research about the value of small high schools.
We were able to use that approach, combined with some others, to eliminate the high school graduation gap between white and African American students in Cincy (with help from Tom VanderArk & BIll and Melinda Gates)
Thanks Joe-it seems like a very promising approach to me too!