| Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of high school size on the College-ready Graduates indicator created by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) as a determinant of college readiness for high school students in Texas. Specifically, the College-ready Graduates indicators for English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and both subjects combined were examined for Texas high schools by student ethnicity (i.e., White, Hispanic, African American) for the following 5 school years: 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011.;Methodology A non-experimental design was used to examine existing data from Texas public high schools with Grade 9-12 configurations for 5 school years. Three school size categories were compared: small-size (50-400 students), medium-size (401-1,500 students), and large-size (1,500+ students). African American, Hispanic, and White students' college readiness rates in ELA, math, and both subjects, obtained from the College-ready Graduate indicator, were examined by school size. Archival data were collected from the Texas Education Agency's data management system and analyzed using inferential statistical procedures.;Findings In all 45 statistical analyses, African American, Hispanic, and White students enrolled in large-size high schools had statistically significantly higher college readiness rates in ELA, math, and both subjects than their peers in medium-size and small-size schools. Post hoc procedures revealed that students attending large-size high schools outperformed students attending small-size schools in all instances, and large-size high schools outperformed medium-size schools in 44 of the 45 analyses. Additionally, in 23 of the 45 analyses, students enrolled in medium-size schools had higher college readiness rates than students enrolled in small-size high schools. No statistically significant instances occurred where small-size schools outperformed medium-size or large-size schools.;Implications In this multiyear, statewide investigation, African American, Hispanic, and White students in large-size schools had higher college readiness rates than their peers in small-size and medium-size high schools. Based on the findings and their agreement with the current research literature, educational leaders are prompted to review policies about school-size as it relates to high school preparation for college. Educational leaders should consider school consolidation and the construction of larger-size high schools to optimize the opportunities that larger-size schools might afford students.;KEY WORDS: School size, College readiness, High schools, School organizational patterns, Economies of scale theory, Academic achievement, Ethnicity. |
