Confounding configurations - Editor's Note - Brief Article

School Administrator, March, 2002

During his 15 years of affiliation with the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, Craig Howley often has been asked questions like "What research shows that K-2 schools are superior to K-3 schools?"

His answer is quick and decisive: none. Research on the merits of particular grade-span configurations is, in his words, "seriously wanting." Still, we asked Howley, one of the leading authorities on small and rural schools, to distill some of the more evocative findings that have emanated from a half dozen recent studies addressing the issue of configuration and student outcomes.

He remains cautious about drawing final conclusions, but Howley will venture far enough to argue that educational leaders and policymakers ought to re-examine the popular notion that fewer grades per school means better performance for students.

In his article this month titled "Grade-Span Configurations" (page 24), Howley, who directs the ERIC Clearinghouse from his base at Ohio University, serves up a series of six informed hunches--or what he terms "provocations"--that are derived from the rather thin research base and from his own experience.

While readers will find some tentativeness in his report, Howley's work nicely complements the rest of our coverage, which captures the current experiences of school districts and school leaders involved in new grade-level configurations.

Jay P. Goldman

Voice: 703-875-0745

E-mail: jgoldman@aasa.org