UNDERPINNING the debate on the desirable size of secondary schools is the assumption that larger schools are able to offer a more diverse curriculum and thereby provide greater equality of educational opportunity and outcomes. A detailed study of curriculum provision at Year 12 in Victoria showed that the positive relationship between school size and the number of distinct subjects offered was generalisable across ‘mainstream’ schools and all curriculum fields. But many small schools were able to offer a broad range of subjects, and the increase in diversity with school size was uneven across fields. Furthermore, evidence that students actually enrolled in the additional subjects offered in the larger schools was equivocal. It remains problematic whether the apparent diversity in Year 12 subject offerings achieved in the new, larger, secondary colleges in Victoria has led to a more equitable curriculum.
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