The transformation of China's education reform from extensive to connotative development involved a shift from characteristically exogenous and late development to endogenous and spontaneous development. The mechanism behind the shift from rationalism to universalism has resulted in tension between extension and intension in the process of…

Background and Context: Career academies emphasize learning in specific occupational contexts to enhance the relevance of student experiences. The premise is that the authenticity of occupational contexts provides for opportunities to make learning more meaningful for students. Objective: The purpose of this case study was to examine the school…

Most evaluations of education policies focus on their mean impacts; when distributional effects are investigated it is usually by comparing mean impacts across demographic subgroups. We argue that such estimates may overlook important treatment effect heterogeneity; in order to appreciate the full extent of a policy's distributional impacts one…

This essay is an open letter from a classroom teacher to a concerned citizen. The letter lists a variety of problems caused largely by standardization and the more corrosive effects of positivism. Many of these problems are unknown to those outside the immediate school setting. While the letter focuses on a specific setting, an inner city school…

In a study of Ontario, Canada's province-wide Primary Class Size Reduction (PCS) Initiative, school districts' ability to direct and support schools was related to their experience with planning and monitoring, interest in innovation, and its human and fiscal resource base. Districts with greater "resource capacity" were able to…

Class size reduction (CSR) has emerged as a very popular, if not highly controversial, policy approach for reducing the achievement gap. This article reports on findings from an implementation study of class size reduction policy in Wisconsin entitled the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE). Drawing on case studies of nine schools,…

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)

Although class-size reductions cannot guarantee better student performance, the Tennessee and Wisconsin experiences, along with other studies, suggest that successful programs share key characteristics: concentration in the primary schooling years, classes with not more than 20 students, greater benefits for urban minority students, and alignment…

Education lacks scientifically sound studies, whether researchers are examining promotion versus retention, class-size effects, or private voucher schemes. American public schools have educated the world's most productive work force, test scores are rising, and more kids graduate than formerly. Educators should demand compelling evidence before…

Small classes in the elementary grades have been shown to boost students' academic performance. However, researchers continue to seek a consistent, integrated explanation of "why" small classes have positive effects. This article forwards the hypothesis that when class sizes are reduced, major changes occur in students' engagement in the…

A recent study found no evidence of inadequate state-aid general funding for Oklahoma's mandated elementary class size requirements as they became more restrictive during implementation phases. Over the years, state aid increased on a per-simulated-class basis for grades K-6. State-aid distribution equity also increased. (MLH)

A federal grant enabled the Tacoma (Washington) school district to hire additional first-grade teachers, provide ongoing staff development, and encourage teacher collaboration. In smaller classes, children are more focused, get the attention they need, and present fewer discipline problems. Relationships with parents have also improved. A sidebar…

At Coppin State University, a historically Black university, nearly 120 ninth-graders are enrolled in the Coppin Academy. The academy is one of nearly a dozen such innovative school partnerships nationwide, aiming to apply study results that suggest that African-American students may perform better in smaller, more personalized learning…

In this article, the author discusses a school improvement model, First Things First, developed by James P. Connell, a former tenured professor of psychology at the University of Rochester in New York. The model has three pillars for the high school level: (1) small, themed learning communities that each keep a group of students together…