More Amalgamation Short-Sightedness - And, Yes, It's Col Again

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Inner-urban living was once the preserve of yuppies and DINKS (Double-Income No Kids), but has become more attractive to families as well. This means more pressure on education facilities in those areas - as I drew attention to here back in 2008 (http://ianrker-vincent.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/where-will-they-go-to-school.html).

Not too many years earlier, Colin Barnett, then Education Minister, amalgamated the Hollywood and Swanbourne High Schools into Shenton College, on the grounds that the two individual schools were 'too small' and that the single larger school would be able to offer more and better educational options to students.

The State Government also closed Scarborough (1999) and City Beach (2005) High Schools

Now we have a need to accommodate up to 2500 extra high school students in the area in the next decade and the Education Department is investigating options to increase accommodation at Churchlands, Mt Lawley and Shenton College, with Churchlands likely to double from 1500 to 3000 students 'in the next few years'. Three thousand students is horrendously large and endangers both learning outcomes and social development - large schools have negative effects on student identification with schools and, thus, participation and affiliation (http://www.edb.utexas.edu/hsns/HSNSbrief1.pdf).

A recent study of school size and learning outcomes in the USA concluded:

"the ideal high school, defined in terms of effectiveness (i.e., learning), enrolls between 600 and 900 students. In schools smaller than this, students learn less; those in large high schools (especially over 2,100) learn considerably less. Learning is more equitable in very small schools, with equity defined by the relationship between learning and student socioeconomic status (SES)." http://epa.sagepub.com/content/19/3/205.abstract

So yet again, Col, bigger is not better. It might be cheaper (although that is by no means proven - sounds familiar to those of us concerned about your local government merger-mania) but, even if it is, it is short-sighted economy - the proverbial 'spoiling the ship for a ha'porth of tar'.

Will you ever learn? It seems not, judging by the report in the West Australia back in June.

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And it should be of more than passing interest that the negative effect of larger schools on student achievement is substantially stronger where there is disadvantage and poverty  (http://www.saveourschools.com.au/file_download/2). And where are Col's implied mergers? Lockridge, Swan View, Balga, Warwick, Balcatta and Mirrabooka: Lockridge, Balga and Mirrabooka are in the 10% most disadvantaged suburbs in WA; Girrawheen is in the 20% most disadvantaged; and Swan View, Balcatta and Clarkson are in the 40% most disadvantaged. Only Warwick is among the less disadvantaged suburbs. 
[Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Socio-economic Indexes for Areas by suburb - http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/subscriber.nsf/log?openagent&2033.0.55.001%20ssc%20indexes.xls&2033.0.55.001&Data%20Cubes&F40D0630B245D5DCCA257B43000EA0F1&0&2011&05.04.2013&Latest]

Need one say more?