Big Campuses Harm Morale, Survey Finds

The number of students in a class does not influence their behavior, but the size of a middle or high school has serious effects on young people’s lives, according to a national survey released Thursday.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota found that very big campuses--particularly ones that have more than 1,200 students, as commonly found throughout Southern California--foster more alienation, drug use and risky behavior. Students often feel less attached to those campuses and less comfortable around peers and school staff.

Those findings came as little surprise at the 4,100-student Los Angeles High School near Koreatown.

“The amount of people we have may make some [students] feel like we are not as important,” said senior Ismael Cueva, 17. “Sometimes you get lost in the numbers.”

Many Los Angeles High students on the Olympic Boulevard campus don’t even know who the administrators are, he added.

Administrators, however, said they try their best to make the sprawling campus feel more personal by reaching out to parents and students.

“We can only do it one person at a time, but we chip away at it and do the best we can,” said Carol Wilmington, an assistant principal.

The University of Minnesota survey is the latest research suggesting that students who attend smaller schools are less likely to drop out, be depressed and engage in risky behavior such as drug and alcohol use, violence or unprotected sex.

The Minnesota researchers said the ideal size for a middle or high school is 600 to 1,200 students, with smaller ones lacking academic resources and bigger ones triggering social problems.

More than 90,000 students at 132 schools across the country were surveyed between 1994 and 1995. Students were asked about self-esteem, friendships, classwork, health and expectations about their future.

“Beyond families, it’s clear that school is the central socializing force in the lives of young people,” said Dr. Robert William Blum, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Adolescent Health and Development.

“We’re not talking about tearing down school buildings,” he said. “What we are suggesting is that how teachers teach and how they and administrators manage the school environment has an important impact.”

Schools throughout California and the nation have been under pressure to decrease class size and hire more qualified teachers to improve academic achievement among students. The new study, which did not examine academic achievement, says the number of youngsters in a class is not as important to behavior as the teacher’s ability to manage well.

That rang true for Jennifer Gonzalez, 16, a junior at Los Angeles High.

“A class doesn’t have to be small for you to feel like you’re a part of it,” she said. “It depends on the warmth of the teacher because if you feel like your teacher appreciates that you’re doing good work, it motivates you.”

Interest in smaller schools’ links to student behavior increased after school shootings, such as the 1999 massacre by two students at Columbine High School, a 1,965-student suburban school in Jefferson County, Colo. The issue has attracted attention from organizations such as the Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is funding smaller schools throughout the country.

Paul D. Houston, executive director of the American Assn. of School Administrators, said Thursday that big schools should not be destroyed but that districts must improve their environment and consider building smaller schools in the future. Schools must acknowledge volunteerism, good citizenship and attendance, he said.

Houston said schools are so pressured to boost test scores that social issues have been de-emphasized.

“They are, in essence, abandoning a lot of the very practices that, historically, this study says are probably good and ought to be done,” he said. “This is a wake-up call to remind people that [academics] are only part of the equation.”

The survey also found that extracurricular activities make students feel more attached and comfortable. But many schools’ year-round calendars make participation in clubs and sports problematic.