Describes benefits of small classes based on 28 years of experience as elementary teacher. Includes establishing a successful classroom community, more time for students, fewer discipline problems, personalized assessment, and more opportunity to use best teaching practices. (PKP)

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)

This study examined the impact of smaller class size on elementary student achievement, focusing on types of instructional strategies utilized, student time on task, academic focus of the classroom, and types of interactions between teachers and students and between students and students. Two long-term class size reduction sites in North Carolina…

Examined what actually transpires in California's reduced-size classrooms, using systematic classroom observations and teacher and student interviews at four elementary schools. Results indicated that, overall, teachers still used whole-class instruction (though they perceived they used varied instructional strategies). Most learning activities…

Given the failure of previous research to find consistent effects of class size on students' achievement, this study examined whether teachers in British elementary schools changed their behavior in ways conducive to learning when they worked with classes significantly smaller than average. Seven pairs of elementary school teachers judged as…

A study was conducted to describe change (and lack of change) in instructional processes and teacher and student behavior when class size was reduced by one-third midway through the school year. Two second grade classes from two schools participated; one school was in rural Virginia, the other an inner-city school in California. Information was…