Harvard Graduate School of Education

Against the Odds
Insights from One District's Small School Reform

Larry Cuban, Gary Lichtenstein, Arthur Evenchik, Martin Tombari, and Kristen Pozzoboni

Against the Odds offers an in-depth look at the Mapleton, Colorado, school district’s transformation of two traditional high schools into seven small schools, each enrolling fewer than four hundred students. This even-handed account chronicles both the heartening successes and frequent frustrations of a district-wide embrace of the small school model.

Advance Praise:

“This is my kind of book. Instead of sifting the stats and talking to experts about general trends, the authors have gone deep into one school district and told an exciting story.”
—Jay Mathews, education columnist, Washington Post

“An incredible account that I wish I had read thirty-five years ago.”
—Deborah Meier, author, The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem

“Cuban and team get away from the old small versus big debate and into the real transformation puzzles. It’s all there—struggle, resistance, leadership issues, the muscle foundations, parents, and community engagement. Against the Odds is a great resource for the small schools movement.”
—Mike Klonsky, director, The Small Schools Workshop

Table of Contents:

Preface                                                                                                       
Introduction                                                                                                   

One: Mapleton in Context: Cross-currents of School Reform                        
Two: The Origins of the Reform                                                                       
Three: Reinventing a District: Implementing Small School Reform              
Four: Experiencing Small Schools: Teachers’ and Students’ Perspectives
Five: Is the Reform Working?                                                                                 
Six: Sustaining the Reform                                                                                   

Appendix: Research Methods                                                         
Notes                                                                                                                 
About the Authors                                                                                  
Index                                                                                                         

About the Author:

Larry Cuban is Professor Emeritus of Education at Stanford University. Gary Lichtenstein heads Quality Evaluation Designs, a firm specializing in education evaluation and research. Arthur Evenchik is the assistant to the dean for special projects in the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. Martin Tombari is a senior research analyst at Colorado Foundation for Families and Children. Kristen Pozzoboni is a doctoral student at the University of Colorado.