Schools across the United States are facing budgetary pressures on a scale not seen in generations. Times of fiscal exigency force policymakers and education practitioners to pay more attention to the return on various categories of public investment in education. The sizes of the classes in which students are educated are often a focus of these…

This Information Capsule examines the background and history in addition to research findings pertaining to class size reduction (CSR). This Capsule concludes that although educational researchers have not definitively agreed upon the effectiveness of CSR, given its almost universal public appeal, there is little doubt it is here to stay in some…

In 2002, voters in Florida approved a constitutional amendment limiting class sizes in public schools to 18 students in the elementary grades, 22 students in middle grades, and 25 in high school grades. Analyzing statewide achievement data for school districts from 2004-2006 and for schools in 2007, this study purports to find that "mandated…