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Study: Smaller schools outshine bigger ones

The Los Angeles Daily News - November 24, 2009

By George B. Sánchez

Small Los Angeles Unified high schools graduate students at higher rates and prepare them better for college than bigger schools, according to a new study that supports what many educators have been saying for years.

Still, the UCLA study also found that even among large LAUSD high schools, some do a much better job at graduating students with the same academic achievement levels than others.

"There are certain schools in the district that do a better job with (lower-performing) students and other schools that do a good job," said Marisa Saunders, a research associate with UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, which authored the study.

"No school can say their students can't make the grades."

The institute looked at the rate of on-time graduation and completion of college preparatory courses for English-language learners and students with poor test scores and middle school grades.

Locally, small magnet programs at Cleveland, Grant, San Fernando, Sylmar and John H. Francis Polytechnic high schools all graduated students at greater rates - and in some cases nearly double - than the district's 48 percent average.

The report also noted large, comprehensive high schools, including Chatsworth, Cleveland, El Camino Real, North Hollywood and Polytechnic high schools, outpaced the district's overall 48 percent graduation rate.

"The high school a student attends really makes a difference," Saunders said. "We need to understand these school conditions and their practices."

Researchers looked at 48,561 first-time freshmen who entered LAUSD high schools in the 2001-02 school year. Only 48 percent graduated in four years, though 54 percent made it to their senior year.

Approximately 67 percent of the group studied were Latino, 13 percent were African-American, 10 percent were white and 4.5 percent were Asian.

More than 70 percent qualified for free or reduced-cost meals and 28 percent were English language learners. Approximately 71 percent of the group scored below the basic standards test their freshman year.

Saunders said the report should be read as the first step in assessing LAUSD's successful schools.

It identified programs that work, she explained, but now district officials should study each site to understand why they are doing well.

Saunders will present the report today to an LAUSD school board subcommittee.

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