Student attendance is both a critical input and intermediate output of the education production function. However, the malleable classroom-level determinants of student attendance are poorly understood. We estimate the causal effect of class size, class composition, and observable teacher qualifications on student attendance by leveraging the…

This study uses data from a comprehensive database of U.S. early childhood education program evaluations published between 1960 and 2007 to evaluate the relationship between class size, child-teacher ratio, and program effect sizes for cognitive, achievement, and socioemotional outcomes. Both class size and child-teacher ratio showed nonlinear…

Collective bargaining is common in American public education, but its consequences are poorly understood. We focus here on key contractual provisions--seniority-based transfer rights--that affect teacher assignments, and we show that these transfer rights operate to burden disadvantaged schools with higher percentages of inexperienced teachers. We…

A number of studies have examined the impact of school accountability policies, including No Child Left Behind (NCLB), on student achievement. However, there is relatively little evidence on how school accountability reforms and NCLB, in particular, have influenced education policies and practices. This study examines the effects of NCLB on…

The authors use nationally representative survey data and a research design that relies on contemporaneous within-student and within-teacher comparisons across two academic subjects to estimate how class size affects certain non-cognitive skills in middle school. Their results indicate that smaller eighth-grade classes are associated with…

The common reporting of effect sizes has been an important advance in education research in recent years. However, the benchmarks used to interpret the size of these effects--as small, medium, and large--do little to inform educational administration and policy making because they do not account for program costs. The author proposes an approach…

Studied possible effects of small classes on achievement using data from Project STAR, a 4-year, large-scale randomized experiment on the effects of class size. There were unambiguous positive effects of small classes on achievement, but no evidence for differentially larger effects of small classes for lower achieving students. (SLD)

The relationship between class size and school achievement is investigated in this "meta-analysis" of the class size literature. In addition, some methodological considerations of meta-analysis are discussed. (JKS)

Using university cost data and student data from 176 members of university economics classes, this study finds that substantial monetary savings are realized by offering large classes, although their students have a 38% decreased probability of enrolling in future economics classes. Money savings may translate into enrollment losses. (SLD)

Glass and Smith's (EJ 207 324) conclusion supporting small class size may be true, but it is not supported by their evidence. Their analysis does not recognize intervening factors and varying class sizes. (CP)

Summarizes evidence for the effects of class-size reduction from experimental and nonexperimental measurements, addresses questions about the robustness of each type of estimate, and suggests hypotheses that could reconcile differences resulting from conflicting evidence. Discusses potential costs and the implications for future research into the…

Describes Tennessee's Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) Project, a study of class size, and summarizes its findings with regard to academic achievement and behavior. Positive findings from STAR are providing impetus for class-size-reduction policies. Discusses some criticisms of STAR research and findings. (SLD)

Evaluated Wisconsin's Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program of class-size reduction through a quasi-experimental, comparative-change design. Results for 1996-97 and 1997-98 are consistent with the positive effects shown for Tennessee's Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio program (STAR). (SLD)

Tested whether variations in class size caused teachers to alter their teaching methods. Examination of 2,170 mathematics classes suggests that, when class size is reduced, teachers do not spend time on new material, nor do they finish more of the assigned textbook. Instead, they shift time to more individual instruction. (SLD)

The literature on school absences has focused predominantly on the reasons for student truancy, or it has assessed only aggregate student absences in their effect on achievement. However, this study brings forth a new issue: the relationship between types of absences--excused versus unexcused--and school performance. With a quantitative model of…