Develops a political economy framework for mapping and interpreting the competing purposes of schooling by examining five paradoxes in national policy debates addressing class size in public elementary schools. The framework highlights answers to the question: What kind of an economic good is education? (education as a service industry, producer…

The present paper supplements the traditional class size literature by exploring the causal relationship between class size and parental effort in education production. Class size variation that is exogenous to parental effort comes from interaction between enrollment and a maximum class size rule of 30 students in the lower secondary school in…

Back in 1982, as New Jersey's commissioner of education, the author of this paper made several recommendations to then-Governor Thomas H. Kean concerning teachers. These ideas, all of which the governor embraced, stirred controversy but also put the state on cutting edge of school reform. The ideas were important because they recognized, in a…

Higher education institutions are compelled to accommodate growing class sizes as student numbers have increased over time, especially at undergraduate level. Good teaching principles are relevant to all class sizes. For example, teachers of all classes are required to create safe learning environments, motivate and engage students, interact with…

The UK National Audit Office (NAO) commissioned RAND Europe to look at the evidence showing the effectiveness of reform of mathematics teaching in primary schools in England. This study looked at government-sponsored evaluations of mathematics reform in England, independent evaluations of the educational outcomes of mathematics reforms in England,…

Since the passage of No Child Left Behind, schools have been looking for resources that are proven, through research, to improve student achievement. The purpose of this article is to determine if there is a relationship between class size and student achievement among 137 school systems in Tennessee. The authors provide a review of the literature…

This study examined the consistency of Chinese preschool teachers' curriculum beliefs and self-reported practices, similarities and differences between American and Chinese teachers' beliefs, and associations between teachers' personal, professional and socio-cultural characteristics and curriculum beliefs. A total of 296 Chinese teachers and 146…

This paper highlights the dynamics that led to the narrowing of the achievement gap between students in the Hebrew-speaking and Arabic-speaking schools in Israel. Instead of looking at one point of time (Zuzovsky, 2005), this paper examines changes between 1999 to 2003 in certain school/class-level variables and relates them to the uneven increase…

The Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) is California's latest K-12 intervention program to support low-performing schools. The state will allocate close to $2.7 billion through this seven-year program to help these schools meet performance and resource benchmarks. This two-page brief explains the selection and funding processes, details the…

This report was commissioned in December 2006 to assess the capacity for trades training in the public post-secondary system with the key objectives to identify current levels of utilization for each of the top trades; identify methods of increasing capacity for top trades; and determine future levels of capacity that can be achieved without…

Early childhood care and education is an important stage in preparing children for primary schooling. Research indicates that participation in this phase has beneficial effects on later schooling particularly at the primary school level. Early diagnosis of special educational needs and intervention are essential in this stage if a child is to…

Collective bargaining agreements, by their nature, impact upon the delivery of educational services to California's students. Collective bargaining agreements deal with hours of employment, evaluation of personnel, transfer of employees, leaves of absence and class size. These contract provisions directly impact a district's ability to provide…

This paper presents an action research approach to exploring methods of improving the learning styles and outcomes of first year university students within large class environments. The genesis of this project stemmed from an observation that entire tutorial groups were often lethargic in their approach to learning. Following a survey of learning…

To align their financing strategies and fundraising efforts with their fiscal needs, charter school leaders need to know how much funding they need and what that funding will support. This cost estimation tool offers a simple set of worksheets to help start-up charter school operators identify and estimate the range of costs and timing of…

By reducing class size we will close the achievement gap in public school education, caused by prior neglect especially since the civil rights era of the sixties. Additional, highly qualified and specialized teachers will more effectively manage a smaller class size and serve more individual student needs in the crucial early grades, where a solid…