Analyzes pupil-specific public school data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study. Applies instrumental-variable econometric methods to account for nonrandom allocation of students to different class sizes and the endogenous class-size variable. Improved data and statistical techniques indicate returns to investing in smaller classes…

The purpose of this paper is to report on the methodology, findings, and implications of two meta-analyses of class size. It begins with an explanation of a graph that indicates smaller classes result in increased pupil achievement. Next, summaries are provided of meta-analyses 1 and 2, followed by an extensive critique. The paper concludes that…

This critique of two recent meta-analyses of class size research is unique among all previous studies and reports published by Educational Research Service. It was made necessary by two extraordinary reviews of class size research prepared by Gene V Glass and Mary Lee Smith and published by the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and…