A new study found that students who attended small New York City high schools were 7 percent more likely to attend college than students at other schools. It followed ninth graders who started between the 2002-03 and 2007-08 school years, and found that students at the small high schools earn an average of 1.8 more credits per year and were 9 percent more likely to graduate high school.
This study was conducted by MIT’s School Effectiveness and Inequality Initiative and funded by the National Science Foundation. The study compared two statistically identical groups: those who did and did not get a seat at one of the small high schools through a random lottery process.
The findings support other research—some funded by the Gates Foundation, which funded most of the small schools—that has found the small schools boost graduation rates.