NEW YORK -- Teachers in the nation's large high schools are more likely to report problems with students dropping out or falling through the cracks than teachers in smaller high schools. But regardless of what size school they work in, today's American high school teachers voice a notable degree of unhappiness with their school, the academic achievement of their students, and low morale.

The results are contained in an in-depth nonpartisan survey of 920 high school teachers nationwide regarding their personal experiences teaching in large or small high schools that was released today by Public Agenda, a nonprofit organization. While teachers in smaller high schools (500 or fewer students) report a better learning environment in several important regards than those in schools with 1,500 or more students, teachers report troubling problems no matter where they teach.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the study is believed to be the first nationwide survey to compare the views of teachers, parents and students in large and small high schools on a range of academic and social issues.

What is striking in these findings is that teachers in focus groups and surveys tend to be fiercely loyal to their schools and students and characterize them in the best possible light, said Deborah Wadsworth, Public Agenda's president. In this case, teachers found considerable room for improvement with today's American public high schools.

Large schools got lower marks from their teachers in maintaining high academic standards, providing help for struggling students, and allowing students to fall through the cracks or dropout. Three-quarters of teachers working in large high schools complained of overcrowding in their buildings, classes and hallways -- three times the rate reported in small schools. A meager 13 percent of teachers in large schools said teachers and principals know almost all the students by their names.

The results from this study demonstrate the value of small schools, said Tom Vander Ark, executive director of education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Creating small schools in which teachers know all of their students and can quickly identify areas of difficulty enables teachers to help all their students achieve.

No Rose Garden

The survey results project a consistently dour view of today's school environment from teachers in schools whether large or small:

• Less than a third (32 percent) said they were happy with their school;
• Less than one in five (19 percent in small schools; 18 percent in large schools) reported teacher morale was high;
• Only 22 percent in small and large schools said they met regularly with their colleagues to share ideas;
• Nearly three in four (72 percent in small schools; 73 percent in large schools) said their students could perform better on achievement tests; only 24 percent of both groups said their students do score high;
• Only one in five (19 percent in small schools, 21 percent in large schools) say their students learn to speak and write well.

Parents and students were generally more upbeat about their schools and academic expectations, especially the parents with youngsters in small high schools, said Wadsworth. Teachers, on the other hand, were far more critical regarding the academic performance of their charges, and some of their complaints are quite unsettling given the drive to improve standards in our schools is now entering a second decade.

Small Schools, Many Benefits

The survey confirmed that in both perception and actual experience, smaller high schools are seen to hold a number of advantages over larger high schools. At a time when school enrollments have tripled the percentage of high schools with over 1,000 students, many reformers advocate reducing school size as a key step to improving public education.

Asked about their professional experiences, teachers working in large high schools are more likely to report that:

• Students fall through the cracks (51 percent versus 31 percent for teachers in small high schools);
• High dropout rates are a problem (47-32 percent);
• Passing students through the system without learning is a problem (51-39 percent);
• Overcrowding is a problem, whether in their school (77-22 percent), in their classrooms (65-21 percent) or in the hallways (55-14 percent).

Seventy percent of teachers in small high schools, versus only half of large school teachers, said struggling students were identified and received help. By an 82-13 percent margin, teachers in small high schools said it was likely that the teachers and principal would know almost all students by name.

Teachers in large high schools, however, by a 59-35 percent margin, were more likely to say their school offers a wide variety of academic courses.

Not Ready for Primetime?

The survey results suggest that, for now, neither teachers nor parents see reducing school size as a top priority. Other reforms, such as reducing class size, instilling better discipline and increasing teacher pay, are equally valid and promising to both groups. Seven of 10 teachers surveyed said small classes are more important than small schools. Among parents, 47 percent said smaller classes are more important, while 43 percent said class and school size are equally important.

Public Agenda's research suggests that very few people outside the circle of reformers have yet to be really exposed to this idea, said Wadsworth. Small indeed may be attractive both intuitively and in actual experience. But neither parents nor teachers in this study have yet to identify large schools as their most serious concern.

Such a blank slate on this issue, however, can offer an opportunity for sober discussion at the local level for incorporating small schools as part of a menu for school reform, she added.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, more than 70 percent of high school students attend schools with more than 1,000 students. Numerous cities have been actively pursuing initiatives to reverse the trend towards large high schools and the federal government has offered financial support to schools in 39 states through the Smaller Learning Communities Program

The Public Agenda survey, which did not focus on model small schools, was conducted last year of parents, teachers and students selected randomly from across the country. Most of the respondents for smaller high schools reside in rural areas; most in large high schools come from cities or the suburbs.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports the development of new, small focused high schools and the transformation of large struggling schools into smaller, personalized learning communities. Public Agenda, a nonprofit organization with a 25-year history of conducting nonpartisan public opinion research, takes no position on the small schools issue and exercised complete discretion in undertaking its research. Public Agenda takes full responsibility for the study results.

Public Agenda's Web site (www.publicagenda.org) includes a summary of the findings, data charts and other information related to the report. A complete copy of the report can be downloaded from the site at no charge until March 13, 2002. A print copy of the report is also available from Public Agenda for $10, plus $2 shipping and handling.

Sizing Things Up: What Parents, Teachers and Students Think about Large and Small High Schools, by Jean Johnson, Ann Duffett, Steve Farkas and Kathleen Collins, is based on three nationwide surveys with 801 parents of children in public high schools, 920 public high school teachers and 1,008 public high school students. The surveys of parents and teachers were conducted in spring 2001, and the survey of students was conducted in fall 2001. In preparation for the fielding of the surveys, Public Agenda conducted 11 focus groups, a thorough literature review and a series of in-depth interviews with education experts. The margin of error for each of the parent, teacher and student samples was plus or minus three percentage points.

Public Agenda is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit public opinion research organization, located in New York City, and is well respected for its influential public opinion polls and its balanced citizen education materials. Founded in 1975 by Cyrus R. Vance, the former U.S. secretary of state, and Daniel Yankelovich, the social scientist and author, its mission is to inform leaders about the public's views and to inform citizens about government policy.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to improving people's lives by sharing advances in health and learning with the global community. Led by Bill Gates' father, William H. Gates, Sr., and Patty Stonesifer, the Seattle-based foundation has an asset base of $24.2 billion.