Abstract: During the 1997-98 school year, a large elementary school in the Kansas City area began to research the community learning arrangement within schools. In the early part of the second semester, teachers completed an anonymous survey in which they displayed overwhelming support for the change. Five community learning groups were established and teachers were randomly selected to serve in the communities. Each of the communities had five grades (1-5) with the exception of one group which did not have a fifth grade. With the exception of three teachers, all teachers changed classrooms the last 2 days of the school year. Three teachers remained in the same classroom. The school year began with this arrangement, and several improvements were noted. Teachers found that discipline problems were overwhelmingly down, especially violent acts. There was an observed improvement in the social skills of all students. This paper also includes information from the research on school size, the school-within-a-school concept, and learning communities. (SM)

Title: Restructuring the Schools Learning Arrangement into Communities.
Author: Hooper, H. H., Jr.
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Center for the Study of Small/Rural Schools (8th, Memphis, TN, March 25-27, 1999).
Publication Year: 1999
Length: 17 Page(s); 1 Microfiche
Document Type: Project Description (141); Conference Paper (150)
Target Audience: Parents
ERIC Identifier: ED430968
Clearinghouse Identifier: SP038554
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Descriptors: * House Plan; * School Size; Cooperative Learning; Elementary Education; Equal Education

Identifiers: Learning Communities