Size seems to matter for Samohi students
SAMOHI — School officials feel confidant that Santa Monica High School’s process of redesigning its large campus is beginning to foster positive results, with even more drastic improvements expected within the next two years.
Officials of the Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District attribute last year’s boost in ninth grade test scores in part to the “house system” that will continue for a third year this fall. The district’s optimism comes amid a five-year overhaul to Samohi, a sprawling campus charged with the instruction of 3,500 students.
Still, challenges remain. At least 40 staff members have been replaced, multiple positions juggled and the curriculum re-arranged since the 2002-03 school year.
“My goal is to provide the highest level of education in keeping with the high school’s tradition,” said Samohi principal Ilene Straus. “But how do you do that when you have class sizes with 30 to 35 students?”
It’s a question district officials not only posed, but set out to answer in 2001, developing a five-year program aimed at redesigning Samohi’s large campuses into smaller, individual ones.
Studies have shown that size does matter when it comes to education. Large, impersonal schools seldom offer the quality of education that small ones do, school officials say. Smaller schools have higher attendance rates, higher grade-point averages, lower dropout rates, and students and teachers report being more satisfied with the overall experience, studies show.
By focusing on more individualized education for each student, Straus hopes to close the achievement gap that is widespread in large high schools.
“It’s basically the English model we’re operating on now,” Straus said. “We’re striving for small within big.”
Samohi has been divvied up into six “houses” that each have 25 teachers educating about 550 students. Each house has a different name — “S” “A” “M” “O” “H” “I” — to differentiate them from one another. There is one counselor for every 275 students — roughly half the number of students a counselor is charged with at most large schools, officials said.
Students in the houses take their core curriculum of English, math, science and history. Elective courses, such as foreign language, are taken out of the classroom, as are extracurricular activities, like athletics.
The houses also have separate programs, such as individual student councils, feeding into the main student council.
Overall, the district has continued to see an increase in student proficiency in nine of 10 grade levels since 2001. The greatest improvement has been among ninth graders, 48 percent of whom were proficient five years ago, when the results were first measured. Last spring’s results show that 65 percent of ninth graders have met proficiency requirements, a 17-percent increase.
John Deasy, the district’s superintendent, attributed part of the academic improvement to changes in teaching methodology and curriculum at the ninth grade level. He also said Samohi’s house system has provided freshman with more one-on-one interaction with teachers.
In addition, incoming freshman this year will take a seminar each school day which focusses on cultural awareness and incorporates history and social studies requirements, as required by the state.
However, despite such changes, similar achievement has yet to be seen among 10th graders, a group that has experienced a 4-percent drop in proficiency over the past five years. Performing at 53 percent in 2001, last year they were only performing at 49-percent proficiency.
Deasy said the decline in performance for 10th graders is one the district is working to correct, hoping to show improvement within the next two years. He didn’t say what role the house system may provide in accomplishing this.
This year’s juniors and seniors are expected to feel better about the house system than those grade levels have reported in years past, due to the fact that the system has primarily been in place since they began high school.
In June, the United States’ Department of Education (DOE), which provides grants for the house system, surveyed Samohi’s progress.
In its report, the DOE noticed many strengths regarding Samohi’s house system. In particular, the district was complimented that it has successfully put into place the house system for all grade levels, including the assignment of a house principal to oversee and manage the day-to-day operations of each house.
However, the report noted there is still work to be done. There needs to be better communication within the structure that includes top administrators, house principals, teachers and advisors. House principals are encouraged to attain further professional development in areas of instructional leadership and time management, the report said.
The report also suggested that the district study and find resources to sustain its new system and continue to look at ways to improve student gains and school results.
Straus said the house system will prevail at Samohi, to the benefit of students. She was transferred from Lincoln Middle School specifically to helm the drastic overhaul to Samohi’s campus.
“The idea behind the house system is that we wanted to know our kids better, and by doing so, we’d begin to see better achievement,” Straus said. “I suspect you will find in the next two years we begin to see the most significant improvement.
“When we went into this project, we were committed to it, knowing what kind of work it would be.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 26, 2005. Read the original PDF.