Creating a Personalized and Orderly Learning Environment in High Schools
MDRC:
A positive school climate --- where students and adults know each other well and where adults express care and concern for students' well-being, intellectual growth, and educational success --- is a key motivational element in the learning process for adolescents.
But the large size of many low-performing high schools leaves many students, especially those who are less academically successful, feeling lost and anonymous and prevents the development of an atmosphere conducive to learning.
This problem may be exacerbated for ninth-graders leaving behind the more family-like environment of middle school --- a critical issue because students attending low-performing schools who do not complete ninth grade successfully and on schedule are at greatly heightened risk of dropping out altogether.
MDRC's studies of three reform models --- Career Academies, First Things First, and Talent Development --- suggest that changes in the structure and functioning of large high schools can help remedy the impersonality of these schools.
Student survey data suggest that small learning communities --- groups of students who share the same cadres of core-subject teachers --- make students feel known and cared about by their teachers.
Students in First Things First schools registered higher levels of perceived support from their teachers after the demonstration was implemented than they had before it was put in place, and Career Academy students reported higher levels of teacher support than members of a control group.
The experiences of First Things First in Kansas City, Kansas, and of Talent Development in Philadelphia indicate that both small learning communities that encompass all four grade levels and separate Freshman Academies followed by communities for upperclassmen can play a role in increasing attendance and reducing dropout rates.
