AssortedStuff: It will be interesting to watch these "small school" experiments as they unfold, although it will probably take years to see the total effect. There is one advantage of a high school with less than 500 students, however. They won't be able to field much of a football team and that will remove a major distraction.

Tim Stahmer discusses recent moves in Chicago and Los Angeles to redesign large high schools into smaller learning communities. Joe Luft of Flushing International High School, and Tom Hoffman of Feinstein High School in Providence have some experience in this area. Also Portland's Marshall High School has recently begun a reorganization as part of a Gates Foundation grant. The Northwest Regional Educational Lab describes their progress in an article entitled Anatomy of Change in the latest issue of Northwest Education.