Analyzed data from a five-year followup of students in Tennessee's Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) project, a four-year large-scale randomized examination of the effects of class size on academic achievement. Results suggest that class-size benefits persist for at least five years and remain large enough to be important to educational…

Research shows that socioeconomic status matters more than gender in the classroom. American Association of University Women researchers found that small classes, small schools, nondiscriminatory teaching practices, and a focused academic curriculum enhance student achievement whether girls and boys are taught separately or together. A sidebar…

Large high schools offer more specialized curricula, but are problematic. Experts think smaller schools raise minority/low-income student achievement, reduce violent and disruptive incidents, combat anonymity, increase attendance and graduation rates, and operate most cost-effectively. Recent studies corroborate these findings and small classes'…

Reviews research that finds teachers assigned to smaller classes do not significantly alter the instructional methods they used in larger classes. (PKP)

The Wood County (Ohio) Alternative School Program was studied to determine overall effectiveness as perceived by students, parents, probation officers, and school administrators. Results indicate that the alternative school was perceived as generally effective, due to small classes and individualized instruction. The alternative school/home school…

The Roeper School is a pre-kindergarten through grade 12, co-educational day school for gifted children that was founded in 1941. Admission criteria include parent and student interviews, student observation, and individual testing by a psychologist. The current emphasis on accountability and outcome measurements may be more about what governments…

ClassWide Peer Tutoring (CWPT) is an evidence-based instructional strategy effective with students with and without disabilities. The evidence for efficacy is strong with respect to students in elementary schools learning basic academic skills in classrooms with large teacher-pupil ratios, and relatively less strong for students in secondary…

The idea of organizing secondary schools into smaller units has gained support in the last decade. This guidebook is designed to support efforts to develop an effective small-unit plan for high schools. The first two sections highlight the benefits of small-unit organizations and identify the institutional barriers to implementation. Proponents of…

Recent research suggests that small (1:15) classes in the primary grades improve a student's chance to obtain a solid educational foundation. Funding has proved a major hurdle to definitive class size research. Also, many class size studies are inconclusive, since few are longitudinal. Tennessee is weighing its burgeoning welfare and correctional…

The basic problem in designing change efforts and in assessing them is determining which processes or consequences count and by how much. Whether it is teaching or learning that needs to be changed has to be determined. So it is with class size. What is to be changed as well as how that change is to be measured needs to be determined. The key…

This collection of papers debates the merits of smaller class sizes and research methods used to evaluate the efficacy of this education reform measure. Four chapters focus on (1) "Understanding the Magnitude and Effect of Class Size on Student Achievement" (Alan B. Krueger), which discusses expenditures per student and economic criterion; (2)…

Discussion and research concerning class size can be traced back at least to the 12th century. An overview of recent research on the subject is provided in this report. The paper, which serves as an introduction to a symposium on class size, examines research that has appeared in the past 20 years, but it concentrates on the results of a…

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…

This book contains vignettes and observations provided by teachers who conduct small classes in primary grades. Designed for school leaders, teachers, administrators, students, and others who care about the future of education, the text presents findings from the Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR), the DuPont Study, and the Lasting Benefits…