Recent literature casts unfavorable light upon the middle school as the most appropriate grade configuration in which to effectively educate young adolescents. The current criticism of middle schools may be fueled, in part, by "A Nation at Risk," the "No Child Left Behind Act," and a growing subsequent emphasis on…

In 1999, the United States Department of Education began its Small Learning Community Program in an effort to support the breakup of large schools into smaller learning communities. In an effort to improve the academic success rate of students, President George W. Bush signed into law the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB). NCLB…

As a new decade dawns, teachers stand at the center of a policy vortex. They serve as the primary focus of one of the Obama administration's four pillars of educational reform--effective teachers and leaders. Educational reformers of all stripes have focused tremendous energy on thinking of ways to identify effective teachers and in turn recruit,…

There is no disputing that for high school students to be college and career ready, they need adequate time to learn, and individualized attention to meet each student's academic goals, learning styles, and social needs. Over the past decade, Education Resource Strategies (ERS) has partnered with urban schools and districts to improve their use of…

Previous work on statistical power has discussed mainly single-level designs or 2-level balanced designs with random effects. Although balanced experiments are common, in practice balance cannot always be achieved. Work on class size is one example of unbalanced designs. This study provides methods for power analysis in 2-level unbalanced designs…

A cost-effectiveness analysis of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) program suggests that Board certification is less cost-effective than a range of alternative approaches for raising student achievement, including comprehensive school reform, class size reduction, a 10% increase in per pupil expenditure, the use of…

Change in education is not going away; instead, it seems to be increasing exponentially. Technology has been the catalyst, and the changes with the greatest impact on education are the location and size of the classroom. The challenges associated with these changes involve working with students from potentially an unlimited number of countries and…

This article discusses some of the arguments and values underlying the issue "Does size matter?" Using findings from inspection evidence (his own and others') the author explores possible answers to the question as it applies to primary education in England. He concludes that in determining whether "size matters" evidence has…

Reducing class size, especially in primary grades, can have tremendous academic and social benefits for children--benefits that endure well beyond those first years of school. But smaller class sizes are not a cure-all. Beyond the hoopla of enthusiasm for this seemingly simple change in educational practice lie serious consequences for students…

This paper provides information on student characteristics, success and progress rates, cost of attendance, degrees awarded, class size, faculty characteristics, and employment outcomes at each of Ohio's twenty-three community college.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of class size and student achievement in mathematics and reading. The study focused on grades 6 through 8 and used the results of the North Carolina EOG tests in mathematics and reading for the academic year 2006-2007. This study examined the effects of class size and student achievement in…

Members of The Principals' Partnership are seeing negative aspects to the current economic downturn that are likely to impact the quality of education provided in public high schools. They also would like to see changes in the accountability requirements of No Child Left Behind. Those were the key findings in the 2009 Principals' Partnership Poll…

This article features Seven Oaks School Division Met School in Winnipeg, a high school that limits class size to 15, tailors its curriculum to the needs and interests of its individual students, places students in community-based internships two days a week, and keeps the teacher--called an advisor--with the same group of students from Grade 9…

Reorganizing primary school grade spans is a tractable and relatively inexpensive school reform. However, assessing the effects of reorganization requires also examining other organizational changes that may accompany grade span reforms. Using data on New York City public schools from 1996 to 2002 and exploiting within-school variations, we…

Many studies have shown the benefits of smaller class sizes--including random experiments like the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio Project conducted in 79 elementary schools in Tennessee, which assigned children to either small or regular-size classes, as well as large-scale analyses of small and large classrooms that have occurred naturally.…