Students in large schools are getting lost. In a school of over 2300 students, it is very easy for a student, who does not excel academically or athletically or those students who gain attention through negative behavior, to blend into the student body for four years without being noticed. Across the nation the move to create smaller learning communities has been an attempt to solve the ills that plague our inner city schools. The intended question of this study is whether or not the smaller learning communities will have the same measurable impact in a suburban district.
The data collected and analyzed were measures of academic achievement, student discipline and student feelings towards the school. Lenape Regional High School District is a regional high school district located in Burlington County, in the southern part of New Jersey. Cherokee, the third largest high school in the Lenape District, implemented a small learning community set up in the fall of 2000.
The data collected revealed that in three of the four data sets, the creation of a small learning community had a detrimental effect on students, manifested as increased suspensions, lower attendance, and a slight decrease in GPA.
","abstract_html":"<p>Students in large schools are getting lost. In a school of over 2300 students, it is very easy for a student, who does not excel academically or athletically or those students who gain attention through negative behavior, to blend into the student body for four years without being noticed. Across the nation the move to create smaller learning communities has been an attempt to solve the ills that plague our inner city schools. The intended question of this study is whether or not the smaller learning communities will have the same measurable impact in a suburban district.</p> <p>The data collected and analyzed were measures of academic achievement, student discipline and student feelings towards the school. Lenape Regional High School District is a regional high school district located in Burlington County, in the southern part of New Jersey. Cherokee, the third largest high school in the Lenape District, implemented a small learning community set up in the fall of 2000.</p> <p>The data collected revealed that in three of the four data sets, the creation of a small learning community had a detrimental effect on students, manifested as increased suspensions, lower attendance, and a slight decrease in GPA.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Campbell, Matthew G."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in School Administration","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Educational Services and Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kern, Robert"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003-04-29T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2003-04-29T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:13Z","subjects":["Education, Secondary--Research; High school students--Attitudes","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1269","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kern, Robert"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Campbell, Matthew G."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-05-02T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Services and Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in School Administration"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Education, Secondary--Research; High school students--Attitudes","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1269"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Students in large schools are getting lost. In a school of over 2300 students, it is very easy for a student, who does not excel academically or athletically or those students who gain attention through negative behavior, to blend into the student body for four years without being noticed. Across the nation the move to create smaller learning communities has been an attempt to solve the ills that plague our inner city schools. The intended question of this study is whether or not the smaller learning communities will have the same measurable impact in a suburban district.
The data collected and analyzed were measures of academic achievement, student discipline and student feelings towards the school. Lenape Regional High School District is a regional high school district located in Burlington County, in the southern part of New Jersey. Cherokee, the third largest high school in the Lenape District, implemented a small learning community set up in the fall of 2000.
The data collected revealed that in three of the four data sets, the creation of a small learning community had a detrimental effect on students, manifested as increased suspensions, lower attendance, and a slight decrease in GPA.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Analysis of small learning communities on suburban schools"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kern, Robert"],"dc:creator":["Campbell, Matthew G."],"dc:date.available":["2016-05-02T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Students in large schools are getting lost. In a school of over 2300 students, it is very easy for a student, who does not excel academically or athletically or those students who gain attention through negative behavior, to blend into the student body for four years without being noticed. Across the nation the move to create smaller learning communities has been an attempt to solve the ills that plague our inner city schools. The intended question of this study is whether or not the smaller learning communities will have the same measurable impact in a suburban district.
The data collected and analyzed were measures of academic achievement, student discipline and student feelings towards the school. Lenape Regional High School District is a regional high school district located in Burlington County, in the southern part of New Jersey. Cherokee, the third largest high school in the Lenape District, implemented a small learning community set up in the fall of 2000.
The data collected revealed that in three of the four data sets, the creation of a small learning community had a detrimental effect on students, manifested as increased suspensions, lower attendance, and a slight decrease in GPA.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1269"],"dc:subject":["Education, Secondary--Research; High school students--Attitudes","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"],"dc:title":["Analysis of small learning communities on suburban schools"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Services and Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in School Administration"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:13Z"}