This issue of the Focus series published by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) provides an overview of how all state prekindergarten programs in the SREB region are performing on three measures of program quality: (1) class size; (2) ratio of students to instructional staff; and (3) instructional staff qualifications. Findings indicate…

This book offers college and university faculty members and administrators practical, well-established methodologies for teaching large classes. In addition to providing an overview of the research, the contributing authors, drawn from a wide range of disciplines and institutions, also provide advice about the mechanics of large-class pedagogy.…

This report presents data from the 1999-2000 Detroit Public Schools Class-Size Reduction (CSR) Program Teacher, Administrator, and Parent Survey. The CSR Program promoted district-wide opportunities to reduce class size in grades 1-3. Thirty schools received from 3-15 additional teachers in order to reduce class size to a 17:1 teacher-student…

The Council of the Great City Schools, a coalition of the largest urban public schools in the United States, surveyed its membership to determine how they were using federal class size reduction funds in the 2000-2001 school year. Thirty-six major urban school systems responded. Results indicate that the federal class size reduction program is…

High quality evaluation research has demonstrated that smaller classes with a heterogeneous student composition can increase academic achievement and close the achievement gap. Research suggests that changes occur in the classroom naturally as a result of smaller size without efforts by teachers or students to do anything different. With fewer…

This study was conducted to identify teaching styles that facilitate student progress on specific learning objectives. Initially, 15 step-wise multiple regression analyses were undertaken using the 44,448 classes in the IDEA database (IDEA center) for classes processed between August 1998 and August 2001, consisting of 1 analysis for each of the…

This report reviews data generated during the first 3 years of California's Class Size Reduction (CSR) implementation. It focuses on a subpopulation of students who have had anywhere from zero to 3 years of reduced class-size experience, beginning in the first, second, or third grades, with some having returned to large classes in the fourth…

The term "class size" refers to the number of students who regularly appear in a teacher's classroom and for whom that teacher is primarily responsible and accountable. "Pupil-teacher ratio" (PTR), in contrast, is an estimate commonly computed by dividing the number of students at a site by the number of professionals who serve or work there.…

This paper provides a summary of class-size research, most of it conducted since 1970. Points are presented as suggestions for policy, for use in schools, and as a basis for added research. Combining the results of various studies allows for some speculation about the possibilities for implementing small class size in the elementary grades.…

This report, intended for local and state policy makers and practitioners, summarizes the findings and implications of class-size reduction (CSR) in California. The report's findings provide a comprehensive picture of California's CSR initiative during its first 2 years, covering such topics as implementation, resources, teacher qualifications,…

This report discusses the results of the third year--1998-99--of California's Class Size Reduction (CSR) program. Assessments of the program show that CSR was almost fully implemented by 1998-99, with over 92 percent of students in K-3 in classes of 20 or fewer students. Those K-3 classes that had not been reduced in size were concentrated in…

Since the late 1980s, ES/FL teachers interested in Cooperative Learning (Holt, 1993; Kessler, 1992; Lopriore, 1996) have come together to share ideas at the annual convention of the International TESOL organization. The 1997 convention was no exception. The first four authors hosted a Breakfast Seminar at which about 45 other teachers joined us to…

Class size is one of the most researched and heavily debated topics in American public education. Currently, at least 25 states have initiated class size reduction (CSR) programs. In the past twenty years, several major studies have been conducted which indicate that smaller class sizes produce an increase in student achievement as well as greater…

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the motivation level of the student and his respective class size. Furthermore, if a relationship does exist, is this relationship reflected in the student's evaluation of the course's effectiveness. (Author)