Cross Case Features: Context

Saunders High School: School Context

Saunders High School is a coeducational, nondenominational private school of 700 students, grades nine to twelve. About one-quarter of the students board at the school, including U.S. students from 18 states and international students from 12 countries.

The academically rigorous curriculum includes 19 AP courses. Over 70 percent of the teaching faculty holds advanced degrees and faculty turnover is low. Class size averages 12 students. Approximately 99 percent of the student body attends college. According to the school’s mission statement, the school’s goal is to instill in each student the “moral seriousness and intellectual rigor to make a positive difference in the world.”

In this elite private school, a department will offer a class only when a sufficient number of teachers possess the qualifications to teach it. Recruitment of qualified faculty is implicit in the issues that the school faces. Because the school is relatively small, faculty must have multiple skills. Two NCTA participants have not been assigned an Asian elective because their skills at teaching other courses are more highly prized. Asian studies is seen as an important, but not the most important, priority.