At Issue
East Lansing high disproves theory that size alone dictates success
East Lansing teacher Robin Remer-Saenz, center, helps student Melissa kitts with a ceramic piece while Rabiah Amatulla-Samad looks on. East Lansing High School offers many fine arts electives for students.
'It doesn't matter the size of the school if the staff is really after helping every student succeed.
EAST LANSING—With more than 1,100 students, East Lansing High School isn’t the biggest in the state.
But, it is among the most successful
secondary schools.
Situated in a residential neighborhood
just blocks from sprawling Michigan State University, the school offers a
diverse student body a wide-ranging
curriculum. An effective school by most
standards, East Lansing has many points
of pride, including:
- International student population representing 52 countries.
- Many advanced placement offerings—everything from calculus and statistics to Spanish, European history and studio art.
- Strong parental involvement—more than 400 parents helped with events or served on committees last year.
- More than 90 percent of the teachers have earned master’s degrees; those who don’t yet have them are pursuing them.
“It’s a unique high school experience,” says John Plough, who teaches physics.
Teacher Mark Foster waits for students to respond to a question in math class.
School ‘feels smaller’
Because of its successes, East Lansing won’t be targeted under Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proposal to break large high schools into smaller schools. The proposal is aimed at helping schools that aren’t performing as well as others.
But East Lansing disproves the theory that size alone dictates success. Staff and students here say that the school feels much smaller than its numbers suggest—and, in many ways, the shear size of the school allows it to offer students opportunities not available elsewhere.
Teachers (there are more than 60, not including counselors, social workers, and staff dedicated to helping students with special needs) work hard to get to know their students and to make a connection that engages students in a meaningful way.
“I don’t feel like the size of our school has a negative impact on what I do,” says Suzanne Rojas, who teaches physics and forensic science.
Pat Murray, a special education teacher, agrees. Like many other educators, he rejects school size—or any other single factor—as the sole predictor of student success.
“I really have an aversion to the size of the school, or the daily schedule, or any quick fixes really meeting the needs of students,” says Murray, president of the East Lansing Education Association. “I don’t think those are the things that make a difference in a student’s educational life… It doesn’t matter the size of the school, I don’t think, if the staff is really after helping every student succeed. That can happen in the largest schools, and that can happen in the smallest schools.”
East Lansing teacher Robin Remer-Saenz helps student Luis Olivera with a project during class.
Overcoming achievement gaps
For East Lansing teachers and staff, one
of the biggest challenges is not the size of
the school but rather the size of the gap
between the very brightest students and
those at risk of academic failure.
When U.S. News & World Report ranked the nation’s best high schools, East Lansing was among the 10 best in Michigan. East Lansing had the lowest gap of any of the top Michigan schools.
And while proud of the national recognition, neither teachers nor the district are spending much time trumpeting the ranking.
“East Lansing has a great reputation already as a school,” Murray said. “I don’t think we have to push to get people to recognize East Lansing as a top-notch school.”
Adds Principal Paula Steele: “We know our kids are competitive.”
Respect for learning
East Lansing staff interviewed for this report credit their success in part to students and families. Many students have ties to the nearby university, where parents work as researchers or faculty.
Parents’ love and respect for learning, teachers say, is often passed on to students. It’s a positive for East Lansing, and not easily replicated in all school communities.
East Lansing benefits from higher state funding than many schools. At $8,566, East Lansing receives the second-highest foundation grant among schools in the greater Lansing area.
Even with the higher grant, East Lansing has been hit with budget cuts. As a result, class sizes have grown as the percentage of students with more academic challenges has increased.
Murray, who spends part of his day with students who need help in introductory geometry, described the need as“incredible.”
“We have a very wide range of abilities in our classrooms,” he says. “We need to provide ifferentiated instruction—and that’s an ever-increasing challenge.”