Smaller is better — at least when it comes to New York City high schools.
Kids enrolled at new, smaller city schools attend class, graduate and go to college at higher rates than their big-campus counterparts, a study revealed on Wednesday.
MIT and Duke researchers found across-the-board gains among students at 151 city schools that have enrollments of less than 500 and were created in the Bloomberg administration.
Between the 2003-04 and 2007-08 academic years, small-school kids attended class an average of four more days a year and graduated at a 9 percent higher rate, compared to large-school students, according to researchers.
The small-school kids were also 7 percent more likely to enroll in college after graduation.
The study analyzed kids who attended 151 small schools, where enrollment was based strictly on a lottery. They were compared with students who entered those same draws but didn’t get the lucky pick. Charter schools were not included.
The development of small schools has been a cornerstone of Mayor Bloomberg’s education policy.
Many of the small schools in this study were hatched from closures of large, failing campuses — which were then reopened with multiple, independent schools on the same grounds.
Public Advocate and Democratic mayoral nominee Bill de Blasio has said he wants a moratorium on school closures.
Republican nominee Joe Lhota has supported Bloomberg’s efforts to shutter bad schools.
“The city’s new small high schools have helped tens of thousands of students across all five boroughs not only graduate high school, but also enroll and succeed in college,” Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said.