One size doesn't fit all. (Notebook: usable education information from schools, business, research and professional organizations).

Schools fail. This is a hard fact for school districts across the country. Districts are desperate for ways to bring failing schools and the students who drop out of them back into the educational fold. One approach that seems to be working is the movement away from large schools, back to small schools.

In San Francisco, three out of 10 high schools in the district are technically failing, especially when it comes to minorities. According to Mark Sanchez, commissioner of the San Francisco Unified School District, they've "tried everything in this district," layered reform over reform, and there has been no dent in the failure rate. Research into small schools by a committee from the Teachers for Social Justice shows that small schools that replaced large schools in places like Philadelphia, New York and Chicago are showing higher graduation rates, larger college entrance numbers and better grades. A New York University study on the effects of size on schools showed that smaller schools are cheaper to graduate out, due to the lower drop-out rate: the cost per student from matriculation to graduation is lower because the investment in students who don't complete school is not made.

"Small schools" can mean academies within existing larger schools, or it can mean a new stand-alone structure designed to handle about 400 students. How to implement small schools is up to the district, but there are plenty of options.

School districts across the country are choosing the smaller school option. In large urban districts, small schools are seen as a fix-all for what is wrong. In suburban districts where large schools aren't necessarily failing, smaller schools are thought of as a way to energize the stagnant large school formula. Small schools claim to offer better student tracking, making it less likely that students experiencing difficulties "fall through the cracks," say experts. The lower teacher/student ratio means that teachers can gain a better understanding of each student's needs and therefore teach more effectively. Small schools report a decrease in the number of confrontations in a given school day and a drop in the level of violence. Students report increased feelings of well-being and a pride in their school; when kids want to be at school, the environment is automatically more conducive to learning.

For Sanchez, small schools are a way to address the dropout rate, violence, and failing grades that just might, finally, work.