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…

In Project STAR, 11,571 students in Tennessee and their teachers were randomly assigned to different classrooms within their schools from kindergarten to third grade. This paper evaluates the long-term impacts of STAR using administrative records. We obtain five results. First, kindergarten test scores are highly correlated with outcomes such as…

The California class size reduction program provided schools with cash rewards for K-3 classes of 20 or fewer students. I show how program rules made it possible for schools to save money by using mixed-grade classes to meet class size reduction obligations while maintaining larger average class sizes. I also show that this smoothing of students…

Reducing K-3 class size is highly recommended and broadly supported, though there are challenges with finding enough qualified teachers and providing enough classroom space. Research indicates that K-3 students in smaller classes do better academically, with minority and low-income students showing the greatest gains. The paper examines…

This research brief summarizes a report by Christopher Jepsen and Steven Rivkin, "Class Size Reduction, Teacher Quality, and Academic Achievement in California Public Elementary Schools" (2002) [ED497298]. Intuitively, class size reduction is a good idea. Parents support it because it means that their children will receive more…

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…