This Information Capsule examines the background and history in addition to research findings pertaining to class size reduction (CSR). This Capsule concludes that although educational researchers have not definitively agreed upon the effectiveness of CSR, given its almost universal public appeal, there is little doubt it is here to stay in some…

Background: This article builds on three years of qualitative research on Wisconsin's Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program, a class size reduction policy in Wisconsin. Objective: In this article, we take a practice-oriented perspective on assessment, examining how assessments in schools that participated in a class size…

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)

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…