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"Education researchers say that
ideal enrollments are no more than 300 students for an elementary
school, no more than 500 for a middle school, and 600 to 900
for a high school," Valerie Strauss, "A Case For Smaller Schools,"
Washington Post, 8/8/00. "Yet 71% of all U.S. high school students
go to schools larger than 1,000 students." High schools with
3,000 or more students are now common in large cities such as
Los Angeles and New York. Some schools have as many as 5,000
students. "Smaller schools have higher attendance and graduation
rates, lower drop-out rates, less violence, and higher grades
and test scores," according to Michael Klonsky, "Small Schools:
The Numbers Tell a Story," Small School Workshop; Keith Sharon,
"Behind the Curve," Orange County Register, 5/21/01. As in cities,
excessive population density creates problems in
schools.
"The number of school-age children is expected to increase steadily for the
next nine decades. Total enrollment will reach 55 million by 2020 and 60
million by 2030, according to the U.S. Department of Education. By 2100, the
nation's schools will have to find room for 94 million students--almost double
the
number of school-age children the nation has now.
"Where is the growth in the school-age population coming from? Immigration
has been responsible for almost 70% of population growth in the last decade;
immigrants arriving since 1994 and their descendants will account for two-thirds
of future population growth," according to the National Projections Program,
Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau.
Do you know of an organization which emphasizes the population-education
connection? If so, please click on "Contact Us" and tell us something about
yourself and about that organization.
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