School Size and Its Effect on School Climate and Academic Achievement in Rural South Georgia High Schools

<p>While leaders in rural South Georgia have continued to debate the notion of school size as it applies to high schools, limited research was available to support staying small or continued growth through consolidation. In this study, schools from rural South Georgia were examined in order to collect data that could provide communities with the resources available to either advocate for large or small rural high schools. Moreover, it could also provide the rationalization necessary for some larger schools to split. The purpose was to establish the relationship between school size and academic achievement, and the relationship was between school size and school climate. For the study, a quantitative ex post facto research design was used to determine what, if any relationships existed between academic achievement, school climate, and school size. All data regarding academic achievement, school size, and socioeconomic status were matters of public record and were collected through various online sources. In order to establish school climate, high school teachers in three of the prescribed schools examined were asked to complete a survey. In this study, the academic achievement means of the last three testing administrations of the mathematics Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) were compared between three groups of 40 high schools whereby each school was assigned to a particular group as a result of that school's enrollment. Moreover, these means were adjusted using wealth as an established covariate for each of the examined schools. Significant mean differences and adjusted mean differences were found between small schools and medium schools. Additionally, significant mean differences and adjusted mean differences were found between small schools and large schools. School climate was examined in one small school, one medium school, and one large school through the administration of a survey. Of the schools examined, small schools demonstrated the highest school climate followed by medium then large schools respectively.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education in Education Administration (Ed.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Year dc:date.available

2009

Author dc:creator

• Lawhorn, James Benjamin

Contributors dc:contributor

• Linda M. Arthur
• William R. Rowe

• ETD
• School size
• Rural high schools
• Academic achievement
• School climate
• Socio-economic status
• South Georgia high schools
• Quantitative ex post facto
• Analysis of covariance

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/351

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1351