This year¡¯s Newsweek list of the top 100 high schools shows that today those with fewer students are rising. Ten years ago, when the first Newsweek Top School List based on college-level test partici ÌâÄ¿ºÍ²Î¿¼´ð°¸¡ª¡ªÇàÏÄ½ÌÓý¾«Ó¢¼Ò½ÌÍø¡ª¡ª (2024)

This year¡¯s Newsweek list of the top 100 high schoolsshows that today those with fewer students are rising.

Ten years ago, when the first Newsweek Top School Listbased on college-level test participation was published, only three of the top100 schools had graduating classes smaller than 100 students. This year thereare 22.

Fifty years ago, they were the latest thing ineducational reform: big, modern high schools outside the cities with thousandsof students. Big schools meant economic efficiency, a greater choice ofcourses, and better football teams. But only years later did we understand thatit involved the difficulty of strengthening personal connections betweenteachers and students. SAT scores began dropping; on average, 30% of students didnot complete high school in four years, a figure that rose to 50% in poor cityneighborhoods. High schools for a variety of reasons seemed to have made littleprogress.

Size isn¡¯t everything, but it does matter, and thepast decade has seen a noticeable trend toward smaller schools. This has beenpartly due to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has invested $1.8billion in American high schools, helping to open about 1,000 small schools ¡ª mostof them with about 400 kids, each with an average enrollment of only 150 studentsper grade. About 500 more are on the drawing board. Districts all over thecountry are taking notice, along with mayors in cities like New York, Chicagoand San Diego. And most noticeable of all, there is the phenomenon of largeurban and suburban high schools that have split up into smaller units of a fewhundred.

Hillsdale High School in San Mateo, California, is oneof those ranking No.423 ¡ª among the top 2% in the country. In 2003, Hillsdaleremade itself into three ¡°houses¡±. 300 students arriving ninth graders arerandomly assigned to one of the houses, where they will keep the same four coresubject teachers for two years before moving on to another for 11th and 12thgrades. Teachers meet with students in groups of 25, five mornings a week, foropen-ended discussions of everything from homework problems to badSaturday-night dates. The advisers also meet with students privately and stayin touch with parents. Along with the new structure came the percentage offreshmen taking biology jumped from 17 to 95.¡±It was rough for some. But bysenior year, two-thirds have moved up to physics,¡± says Jeff Gilbert. ¡°Our kidsare coming to school in part because they know there are adults here who knowthem and care for them.¡±

But not all schools show advances after downsizing,and it remains to be seen whether smaller schools will be a cure-all solution.

Ranking schools is always controversial. Over theyears this system has been criticized for its simplicity ¡ª list of top U.S.high schools was made merely according to the proportion of students takingcollege-level exams. This year a group of 38 superintendents (µØÇø½ÌÓýÖ÷¹Ü) from five states wrote to ask that their schools shouldbe excluded from the calculation. ¡°It is impossible to know which high schoolsare ¡®the best¡¯ in the nation,¡± their letter read. ¡°Determining whetherdifferent schools do or don¡¯t offer a high quality of education requires a lookat many different measures, including students¡¯ overall academicaccomplishments, their later performance in college, and taking intoconsideration the unique needs of their communities.¡±

1.Whatcan we learn about the schools sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?

A. They are often located in poor neighborhoods.

B. They are popular with high-achieving students.

C. They are mostly small in size.

D. Another 150 schools invested by the Foundation areplanned to be set up.

2.Accordingto Jeff Gilbert, the classes at Hillsdale were set up so that students could______.

This year¡¯s Newsweek list of the top 100 high schools shows that today those with fewer students are rising. Ten years ago, when the first Newsweek Top School List based on college-level test partici ÌâÄ¿ºÍ²Î¿¼´ð°¸¡ª¡ªÇàÏÄ½ÌÓý¾«Ó¢¼Ò½ÌÍø¡ª¡ª (2024)

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