Dollars & Sense II: Lessons From Good, Cost-Effective Small Schools
Published by KnowledgeWorks Foundation
2005
www.kwfdn.org and www.goodsmallschools.org
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
OVERVIEW
This report deepens the argument for small schools in three important ways. First, analysis of more than three thousand construction projects shows that smaller schools are no more expensive than much larger schools. Second, analysis of the budgets of 25 good small schools throughout the United States demonstrates that on average they spend less per student on educational programs, maintenance, and operations than the per-pupil expenditure in their districts, yet they achieve results that are equal to or better than schools in the same area. Third, these schools offer innovative and effective educational programs, facilities, and strategies for cost effectiveness that can serve as models and inspiration to people interested in cost-effective good small schools.
QUOTES
"Spending by the MATCH School exceeds the per-pupil expenditure for Boston, but the amount the district allocates per pupil has been steadily decreasing because of budget constraints. MATCH considers its tutoring program essential and found outside sources to fund it." -Page 2
"Volunteer Tutor; A tutor gives private instruction that is often remedial. In the case of most schools in this report, all tutors volunteer their time to work with students, but MATCH funds its extensive tutorial program through the federal Work Study program." -Page 6
"Using Mentors and Tutors; MATCH in Boston hires tutors from local colleges to work individually with its ninth- and tenth-grade students. Students are required to spend 10 hours per week, in addition to the regular school day, working with tutors. Since tutors are paid with federal work-study money, the school provides only $1.75 of their $15 hourly wage. Not only is this arrangement good for MATCH, but the colleges appreciate having meaningful work-study jobs for their students. Colleges also welcome this opportunity because they are now required to allocate programs that benefit the local community. It is easier for small schools to find mentors and tutors for all or at least the majority of their students simply because fewer are needed." -Page 8
"Other Incentives; After studying the feasibility, MATCH created a dormitory-like space on its third floor to house recent graduates from college. The school advertised for full time tutors and received more than two hundred applications for 45 positions. Tutors receive $600 per month plus room and board in exchange for working every day with the same MATCH student." -Page 10
"Transportation; MATCH has easy access to Boston's public transportation system. The city offers a reduced-cost pass to students, which MATCH supplements when necessary." -Page 11
"Health Care; Other schools, such as MATCH, have decided that if a student feels ill, he or she, with parental permission, will go home in a cab. In an emergency, a teacher will take a student to a nearby hospital or call an ambulance. By not having a nurse on staff, MATCH saves between $25,000 and $50,000 a year. Instead of health courses previously offered by a school nurse, MATCH instituted a weekly seminar on health care and illness prevention taught by medical interns and nonprofit health agencies." -Page 13
"Business Located in Schools; For two years, MATCH housed a student-run cell phone franchise in its first-floor storefront. The school earned $20,000 for a fund that was usually used to help its students with college tuition. The store has since closed because of the glut in the cell phone market, but the school has solicited students' ideas for a new retail enterprise." -Page 13
"Grants; MATCH received a Green Schools grant of $400,000 from the Massachusetts Technology Cooperative that made it possible to install passive solar panels." -Page 14
"Donations; Hewlett-Packard contributed 25 laptops to MATCH, and Akamai in Cambridge, MA, gave MATCH a donation of $100,000 to support the math program, to be used for professional and curriculum development." -Page 14
"Work Study; MATCH can afford to have tutors who spend 10 hours a week working with each of its ninth- and tenth-graders because the federal Work-Study program pays most of their salaries, a contribution worth $405,000 a year. Work-Study students at Boston's 66 area colleges are delighted to earn money by helping younger students rather than doing clerical work. Their colleges and universities are pleased because federal law now requires that receiving institutions spend a percentage of their work-study money on outreach to their neighborhoods. Students at MATCH appreciate the tutoring they receive because it is vital to their success in rigorous courses at MATCH." -Page 16
"Qualified Zone Academy Bonds; The Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB) program made $400 million available annually in credits to lending institutions for offering no-interest bonds to schools for facilities projects. MATCH used a zero-interest QZAB of $2 million to help fund the purchase of its building. The program was reauthorized for 2004-2005. MATCH's QZAB funding demonstrates that it is wise to be alert for new federal programs. The application process may be onerous and the chances may seem small, but schools that receive funds from federal programs such as QZAB can benefit substantially. (See: www.qzab.org)" -Page 16
"Smaller School Sites; MATCH has no land at all, and the building is 10,000 square feet on each of three levels. How can schools function on such small lots? IDDS and MATCH... use space in partner institutions." -Pages 17-18
"Design and Construction; The architect for MATCH used as much as possible of the existing structure and detail of the former car dealership that was renovated to house the school." -Page 19
"Renovation; Buildings that never served as schools can also be adapted, and structural elements can be incorporated into the new school design. The entrance hall, metal staircase, and Corinthian columns at MATCH, for example, are architectural elements that no one would include now because to do so would be prohibitively expensive. These features give the space in this 1917 building that was once a dealership for luxury cars an enviable elegance and a sense of the past." -Page 19
"Leasing; MATCH leased space before it was able to buy a building and used the time to define its program and needs before investing in a facility. Many of these schools would not have been able to find a facility if they hadn't initially leased space." -Page 20
"Adapting Existing Space Within a School; Turning the unfinished third floor of MATCH School into dormitory space for tutors is a positive example of adapting previously unused space to benefit students." -Page 20
"Reducing Square Footage per Student; Similarly, MATCH built classrooms that average 500 square feet rather than the more usual 700 square feet, because it intends to never have more than 20 students in a class. The number of square feet that is appropriate in a small school reflects the needs of the academic program and the number of students the school anticipates will be in a class." -Page 22
"Sharing Space for Athletics and Extracurricular Activities; MATCH students use the nearby Y for athletics and other programs. The school hopes to develop its relationship with Boston University so students can use more of the university's facilities." -Page 22
"Green Construction; MATCH also received funding from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Green Buildings Program for solar panels on its flat roof, which it uses to supplement electricity from the local utility company." -Page 23
"Savings from Solar Power; Alternative energy allows a school to be environmentally sound and cost-conscious. Using supplementary solar power saves MATCH an estimated $12,000 to $15,000 annually." -Page 23
"Furnishings and Furniture Donations; In many cases, corporate FF&E donations exceed a school's expectations. MATCH opened its doors just as some area dot-coms were closing and a major Boston corporation was getting rid of a lot of quality office furniture. MATCH's conference room rivals that of many big-business facilities thanks to corporate donations." -Page 23
"Natural Lighting; High Tech High, Todd Beamer High School, H.S. Truman High School, MATCH, The Met, IDDS, and C.C. Blaney Elementary and R.D. Schroder Middle schools are all notable exceptions, with ample windows that provide light and allow air to circulate." -Page 26
"Automatic Light Sensors; Several schools use automatic sensors to turn off lights after a room has been unoccupied for a set time. Such sensors are in classrooms at MATCH, the bathrooms at The STAR School, and throughout The Met." -Page 27
"Automatic Water Shut-off; In arid places such as Arizona, using water carefully is obviously important, so it is no surprise that The STAR School has invested in automatic water shut-off for its bathrooms. It is more of a surprise to find a similar system at MATCH in Boston, but the devices conserve water, reducing water and sewer bills at both schools." -Page 27
"Media and Technology Charter High School; In 2000, only 18% of incoming ninth-grade students had passed the eighth-grade MCAS. Yet after just two years at MATCH, the pass rate on the tenth-grade exam by these same students was 82%. By December 2002, after the first retake opportunity, the pass rate was 100%. Similarly, by September 2003, 89% of the class of 2005 passed both Math and English on their first try. By May 2004, after the second retake opportunity, 100% of the class of 2005 passed both tests. Moreover, despite the fact that just four percent of students had scored in the top two MCAS levels ("proficient" and "advanced") in math before coming to MATCH in 2001, after two years, 73% scored "proficient" or "advanced" in 2003. On MCAS, in 2002 and 2003, MATCH was number 1 of 22 open-admission high schools in Boston, and the top predominantly African-American high school in the state." -Page 114
Full article from http://www.goodsmallschools.org/information.asp?schoolID=10
Media and Technology Charter School
Whisper my name, and I'll find you.
- Alan Safran, Executive Director
The Media and Technology Charter High School (MATCH) grew out of school founder Michael Goldstein's master's thesis. Goldstein assembled a team that included educators, business people, community leaders, and media professionals. Their goal? To create an inner-city school with a small environment where student projects would be closely tied into "the basics." Goldstein recruited codirectors, including Charlie Sposato, an experienced principal, and Executive Director Alan Safran, who had served in the Massachusetts Department of Education. Together they created a school that serves a predominantly African-American and Hispanic population from some of the poorest neighborhoods in Boston. Ninety-five percent of MATCH's students qualify for free and reduced-cost lunch.
The team was determined to help all MATCH students achieve at high levels. When MATCH's first ninth-grade students had sixth-grade reading levels and fifth-grade math scores, the school took advantage of its agility and autonomy as a small school to adjust its program. To achieve the team's high standards, Goldstein, Safran, and Sposato added one-on-one tutors, additional study time, and set clear expectations and boundaries.
MATCH provides structure to students whose lives are often chaotic outside of school. Students must wear uniforms, follow firm rules, and be prompt. If a student is more than two minutes late to school, he or she must serve detention, even if the cause is a delayed subway train. MATCH expects students to behave well, to participate in class, and to work hard. Almost a quarter of the students have repeated a year since coming to MATCH. Their willingness to stay in school and repeat a year, rather than drop out or go to a less demanding school, demonstrates their determination to learn and their conviction that at MATCH, they do learn.
MATCH relies on tutors to give students the extra time and support they need. In 2000-2001, MATCH logged four thousand volunteer hours, including tutors' and mentors' time. In the next year, that number rose to six thousand hours, and in 2002-2003 the school benefited from more than ten thousand volunteer hours. Intensive tutoring provides many benefits beyond its impact on student learning. Students and teachers have time to know each other, and adults are accessible to students and their parents. Teachers frequently call parents at home to tell them how their children are doing.
Joking that at one time they thought they should rename the school "Mentoring and Tutoring Charter High," the founders can now look on proudly as MATCH students rank first in the state on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) among schools with predominantly minority populations. In addition, MATCH students outperformed students from the other 22 schools in Boston that don't require an examination for entrance, and 89% of the class of 2005 passed both sections of the test on their first try. As the school website states, "...despite the fact that just four percent of our students had scored in the top two MCAS levels (proficient and advanced) in math before coming to MATCH, after two years here, 73% have scored proficient or advanced."
MATCH does nothing without careful analysis--and its research showed that the school should be located along easily traveled public transportation to give easy access to students from throughout the area, as well as volunteers and paid tutors. Using funds from the federal Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) Program, MATCH was able to buy a 90-year-old, three-story brick building with 10,000 square feet per floor located directly on a subway line. The site is on the fringe of Boston University and close to Boston College, where students are just a short train ride away from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Boston Symphony, the Boston Public Library, and other cultural, historic, and medical assets. They also are within easy access to businesses and private organizations. In short, the school's location offers a wealth of opportunities for internships, mentoring, field trips, and projects.
Careful and frugal renovation created a two-story school that includes a spacious front hall with a handsome grand staircase, a reception room, limited and shared office space, and a large room (once a luxury car showroom) that serves as a study hall, assembly room, dining hall, and a gathering place for students. A conference room directly off the large room (to save space, there is no hall separating the two) offers a handsomely furnished area for meetings. Because dot-coms were folding (and liquidating their assets) while MATCH was under construction, the school's classrooms and meeting rooms were well and cost-effectively furnished. MATCH recently renovated space on the third floor as dorms for AmeriCorps volunteers.
The school's small size provides flexibility and attention to students. Being small allows the school to function with less formal structure than is necessary in a large school. And, as founder Goldstein points out, "If you have good people, don't impose structure." The good people will help develop a structure that is responsive.
The MATCH students are doing well academically, as documented by their test scores, but perhaps the best indicator of MATCH's success was observed by one of the study's researchers while she was going to MATCH on the subway. Instead of a conversation that might have been sprinkled with expletives and references to boyfriends and pop stars, five teenage girls talked about how they did on the last test, how they could help each other understand an assignment, and where they were applying to college. When they all got off the train and walked in to MATCH, the researcher knew she was visiting a remarkable school.
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