The issue of class size is a complex and contested topic that has divided opinion for many years. Whilst many teachers believe that smaller class sizes assist in enhancing outcomes, a number of policy influencers, policy makers and researchers argue that it has little influence on success in learning and that decreasing class sizes is not…

In the days since NEBHE convened hundreds of educators and opinion leaders in Boston for the "University Unbound" conference, people have received a surge of reactions including the one from George McCully, founder of the "Catalogue for Philanthropy." NEBHE has begun focusing the attention of New England institutions on the…

A recent report from Michigan's Mackinac Center asserts that there is little or no relationship between student achievement and marginal increases to what the report characterizes as the already "high" levels of spending in that state. Yet the report never substantiates its assertion that present spending levels are high, on average, or…

Research in education finance and policy has flourished over the past twenty years as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and a wide range of school reform efforts spurred demand for scientific evidence identifying "what works." Research funding has been generous, buoyed by both favorable economic conditions and the sense that research will…

This article discusses some of the arguments and values underlying the issue "Does size matter?" Using findings from inspection evidence (his own and others') the author explores possible answers to the question as it applies to primary education in England. He concludes that in determining whether "size matters" evidence has…

Reducing class size, especially in primary grades, can have tremendous academic and social benefits for children--benefits that endure well beyond those first years of school. But smaller class sizes are not a cure-all. Beyond the hoopla of enthusiasm for this seemingly simple change in educational practice lie serious consequences for students…

Many studies have shown the benefits of smaller class sizes--including random experiments like the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio Project conducted in 79 elementary schools in Tennessee, which assigned children to either small or regular-size classes, as well as large-scale analyses of small and large classrooms that have occurred naturally.…

Between 2001 and 2007 I conducted a self-study action research enquiry into my practice as a primary school teacher. The research had a collaborative aspect to it, in so far as my pupils and colleagues were invited to participate in the research, although I was the focus of the enquiry. I was unhappy about my teaching: I felt I dominated the…

The budget crises will have far reaching impacts on education in California. This CenterView focuses on the critical issues of equity and teaching quality now beginning to emerge for Californians as they struggle to offer students instruction necessary to meet the state's rigorous academic standards. It is absolutely essential for educators and…

Federal policy directed to teaching and teachers is the subject of this review, which is organized around: (1) recruitment; (2) training; (3) accountability; (4) incentives; (5) qualifications; (6) class size reduction; (teacher working conditions; and (8) human resource management and the overall coordination of teacher policy. For each theme,…

Back in 1982, as New Jersey's commissioner of education, the author of this paper made several recommendations to then-Governor Thomas H. Kean concerning teachers. These ideas, all of which the governor embraced, stirred controversy but also put the state on cutting edge of school reform. The ideas were important because they recognized, in a…

Collective bargaining agreements, by their nature, impact upon the delivery of educational services to California's students. Collective bargaining agreements deal with hours of employment, evaluation of personnel, transfer of employees, leaves of absence and class size. These contract provisions directly impact a district's ability to provide…

In this essay, Benjamin Endres examines how teaching is caught between the ideals of formal, systemic institutions, on the one hand, and the ideals of more intimate or personal relations, on the other. Endres uses Anthony Giddens's account of "abstract systems" and "pure" relations to suggest that the tension that teachers face is not only the…

By reducing class size we will close the achievement gap in public school education, caused by prior neglect especially since the civil rights era of the sixties. Additional, highly qualified and specialized teachers will more effectively manage a smaller class size and serve more individual student needs in the crucial early grades, where a solid…

This publication contains excerpts from published works on the teaching of undergraduate sociology by sociologists known for their contribution to scholarship. In addition to bringing these writings to a broader audience, the series is a reminder that the creation of sociological knowledge and its transmission have been joint concerns of many…