Abstract
Under heavy pressure to cut costs and to raise student performance, school consolidation represents the most dramatic change in the education reform movement in the United States. Almost about 90 percent of school districts have been eliminated through consolidation since 1938 in the States. The pace of consolidation has slowed from 1970. Recent reports such as the “Matthew project” reinforce the view that small schools are good schools. The new appreciation of small schools must seem like a revolution to educators and policy-makers who have devoted careers to building larger and modern schools throughout the States and Canada. Common justifications for building larger schools and closing smaller ones are the statewide concern for equity, effectiveness and efficiency in all school districts. These issues lead to ongoing dilemmas in the debate on optimal school size.
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