Students vary enormously in the speed and manner in which they learn. Small schools allow teachers to engage in learning as a user-centered, adapting to the students’ learning styles, background, aptitude, motivation, personality, and interests. When teachers become more responsive to helping students understand their strengths and weaknesses, engagement and achievement rise. When teachers use a variety of instructional strategies, including interdisciplinary learning experiences, students develop lifelong learning skills. According to the National Commission on Time and Learning, “Schools will have a design flaw as long as their organization is based on the assumption that all students can learn on the same schedule.”
