Appreciating the strengths of the state’s smallest schools

UND’s Professor Kathy Gershman has conducted research so far at seven of North Dakota’s remaining one- and two-room schools. They include: Amidon, Manning and Naughton Schools in Burleigh County Sweet Briar School in Morton County Marmath School in Slope County, Spiritwood School in Stutsman County, and Eureka School in Ward County, all two-room schools Gershman hopes to include the one-room Union School in Emmons County in her study.  Another one-room school in Bowman County, Cottage School, closed before she could get there.  Other two-room schools, known as “graded elementary schools,” still operating include Bowline Butte, Earl, and Horse Creek Schools — now consolidated — in McKenzie County, Pettibone School in Kidder County, and Bakker School in Emmons County.

Just eight one-room elementary schools remain in North Dakota, but many might soon be gone, predicts Kathleen Gershman, who is in the middle of a study of the experiences of the young people who attend them.

Gershman, a UND professor of education with an Ed.D. from Harvard, discussed some preliminary findings earlier this year in a lecture to the University community.  What she’s found is surprising to some: The children learn to be so self-sufficient that they do fine — better than fine — when they go on to larger places for secondary and higher education.

“These kids are not the least underprepared,” Gershman said.  “Not only do they tend to be confident self-starters, they are quite skillful at working effectively in small groups.”

In a one-room school, a teacher typically has five to eight students, and really gets to know each child’s talents and potential.  Students proceed at their own pace and it’s abundantly clear if a student isn’t getting the material.

“No one slips through the cracks in these schools,” said Gershman.  “Everyone gets a chance to shine, to sing solo.”

There are advantages to larger schools, she concedes.  A 10-year-old is usually the only child his or her age in a family, and often the only one in a grade in a one-room school.  In a larger school, that 10-year-old has to learn to negotiate his or her place in a larger group, a very important social skill in adult life.

Some of the pluses of a one-room school education parallel those of the arts in education.  Not surprisingly, Gershman is an ardent arts supporter and promoter.

“Unfortunately, to many people the arts appear to be a frill and they are the first to get the ax,” she said.  “That’s very regrettable, in my opinion.  Arts aren’t just about self-expression, though that’s part of their value.  Arts are about developing the imagination needed even in science and math —  perhaps especially in science and math.”

Gershman often quotes research showing that students get better grades in those subjects when they also have arts education, which, like the one-room school experience, tends to promote self-confidence and an adventurous learning attitude.

Part of the challenge is getting kids to like learning and to want to come back for more, another thing that one-room schools do very well, she added. Arts also teach cooperation with others, whether through working on a play or a mural.

Since 2000, Gershman has been a member of the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.  She serves on one of that group’s boards, the National Committee for the Performing Arts, whose main function is fundraising and budget oversight.  She also is a board member of the North Dakota Arts Alliance/Alliance for Arts Education and is a past board member of the Grand Forks Ballet Company.

A member of the UND faculty for 20 years, her latest book is titled They Always Test Us on Things We Haven’t Read: Teen Laments and Lessons Learned (Lanham, Maryland: Hamilton Books, 2004).