Class size has long been a concern among education stakeholders. Although assumptions about the value of smaller class sizes abound, existing research does not offer clear conclusions about the effects of class size on learning. With respect to instruction, researchers have principally focused on differences in teachers' practice or the enacted…

This study examines the association between class size, teacher characteristics and five non-cognitive student outcomes (i.e., self-control, interpersonal skills, approaches to learning, externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors) in grades K-3. Individual fixed-effects, that control for observed and unobserved time-invariant factors,…

This study examines the associations between class size, teacher characteristics, and children's academic achievement in mathematics, reading, and science using a recent, large-scale, longitudinal dataset. Individual fixed effects models, which control for observed and unobserved time-invariant student variables, were employed to conduct analysis…

Debates in education policy draw on different theories about how to raise children's achievement. The "school competition" theory holds that achievement rises when families can choose among competing schools. The school resource theory holds that achievement rises with school spending and resources that spending can buy. The "family…

The main goal of this paper is to analyze how the age factor behaves as an alleged individual difference (ID) variable in SLA by focusing on the influence that the learning context exerts on the dynamics of age of onset (AO). The results of several long-term classroom studies on age effects will be presented, in which I have empirically analyzed…

The authors explored how classroom gender composition moderated the relationship between having classmates with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and peers' academic achievement in both kindergarten and Grade 1 classrooms. Given the behavioral and social-cognitive styles of girls, it was hypothesized that classrooms with a higher percentage…

Background: The dynamic model of educational effectiveness (DMEE) is a comprehensive theoretical framework including factors that are important for school learning, based on consistent findings within educational effectiveness research. Purpose: This study investigates the impact of teacher and school factors of DMEE on mathematics and science…

In a four-year study of the effect of class size on pupil outcomes in a sample of 36 primary schools in Hong Kong, it has been found that there are few positive differences in attainment between classes set at less than 25 pupils and those of normal size averaging 38. Three cohorts of pupils were studied. In Cohort 1 pupils spent 3 years in small…

Prior research has established the potential for achievement gains from attending smaller classes. However, large statewide class-size reduction (CSR) policies have not been found to consistently realize such gains. A leading explanation for the disappointing performance of CSR policies is that schools are forced to hire additional teachers of…

This brief summarizes findings on class size from over 25 years of work on the Tennessee Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) randomized, longitudinal experiment, and other Class-Size Reduction (CSR) studies throughout the United States, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden, Great Britain, and elsewhere. The brief concludes with recommendations. The…

Evidence from Project STAR has suggested a considerable advantage of being in small classes in early grades. However, the extra benefits of additional years in small classes have not been discussed in detail. The present study examined the additional effects of being in small classes for more than 1 year. We find that once previous grade…

The researcher conducted a nonexperimental study to investigate and analyze the influence of reduced class sizes, intensity (all day and every day), duration (five years), and heterogeneity (random class assignment) on the Head Start Fade effect. The researcher employed retrospective data analysis using a longitudinal explanatory design on data…

Through a synthesis of test publisher norms and national longitudinal datasets, this study provides new national norms of academic growth in K-12 reading and math that can be used to reinterpret conventional effect sizes in time units. We propose d' a time-indexed effect size metric to estimate how long it would take for an "untreated"…

Because classroom size reduction (CSR) and standards based testing were implemented at the same time in California during the mid-1990s, it is difficult to isolate the effects of classroom size on outcomes from the effects of curriculum changes. As a result, the main comparison in this paper is very specific--the effect of reduced sized…

This paper introduces an empirical strategy to estimate dynamic treatment effects in randomized trials that provide treatment in multiple stages and in which various noncompliance problems arise such as attrition and selective transitions between treatment and control groups. Our approach is applied to the highly influential four year randomized…