The present article attempts to reinterpret the findings of most recent studies investigating effect of using games for teaching purposes. A methodological approach combining a meta-analysis of quantitative data with qualitative ones was adopted in order to present the broadest picture of the current research on educational use of games. To this…

Increasing class size is one of the key variables that policy makers can use to control spending on education. But the consensus among many education researchers is that smaller classes are effective in improving student achievement. This view has led to a policy of class size reductions in a number of US states, the UK, and the Netherlands. This…

States and districts have the flexibility to creatively use Title II, Part A funds to address teacher quality issues. Currently, three strategies predominate--class size reduction, professional development, and recruitment, induction, and retention of highly qualified teachers. Each strategy is implemented with the intention of improving teaching…

The purpose of this report was to gather lessons on research-based best practices in blended learning for use by K-12 practitioners, a study commissioned by planning council members of the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC). After interviewing representatives from participating school divisions, questions driving the inquiry were…

Finding an unequivocable answer to the class size issue is vitally important to the future of American public education. Sorting out conflicting viewpoints and determining supportable conclusions are this report's primary purpose. Three factors--research motivation, the effects of confounding variables, and problems related to distinguishing…

A policy of reducing class size seems sensible, but might have costly, far-reaching implications for students, teachers, and public support for schools. The purpose of this research brief is to summarize 100 class size research studies from 1950 to 1985 and to regroup them into 18 areas of concern. The cluster analysis approach was designed to…

Literature on the subject of the relationship between class size and student achievement is briefly reviewed. It is pointed out that while researchers often come to the conclusion that class size has small impact on student achievement, teachers feel that a class of under 20 students permits better and wider learning. The financing of smaller…

Explores relations among class size, social support, harassment of others, and emotional problems in a sample of 1,071 Norwegian eighth-graders. Results show stronger associations between perceived teacher support and peer relations, as well as between peer relations and emotional problems in small classes. Results indicate no difference between…

Discusses research (Tennessee Study of Class Size) that determined the effects of smaller class size in the earliest grades on short- and long-term pupil performance. The 4-year study assessed the performance of over 6,500 students who attended K-3 classrooms having differing numbers of students and found evidence of short- and long-term benefits…

Although experimental results indicate that smaller classes promote higher achievement in early elementary school, the broader literature on class-size effects is inconclusive. This seeming contradiction raises questions about the generalizability of experimental evidence, an issue that this article addresses by examining the effects of class size…

Most teachers and the public believe that children in kindergarten and the primary grades benefit from small classes because of children's need for individualized instruction and teacher attention. This report, part of a comprehensive policy study of early childhood education, presents a review of the research on the effect of class size on…

Intuitively, class size reduction is a good idea. Parents support it because it means that their children will receive more individual attention from teachers. Teachers like it for the same reason and also because it creates a more manageable workload. It is generally assumed that the fewer students in a class, the better they will learn and the…

This report provides an in-depth review of school reform research that presents evidence of college preparation for all students. It examines the predictors of college-going behavior and how they have been addressed within the high school reform movement. The report then draws out the promising practices from existing reform initiatives and makes…