A study was conducted to determine if the tendency for faculty members of higher rank to receive the highest ratings on the Illinois Course Evaluation Questionnaire (CEQ) remained when variables such as class size and course level were taken into account. The relationship between CEQ ratings and instructor's rank, class size, and level of course…

During the 1960's financial problems began to infiltrate colleges and universities across the country. Demands began to pour in for higher student/faculty ratios in order to cut back the educational costs. Despite arguments that such action would decrease the quality of higher education, many colleges and universities increased their class size.…

Describes Glenbard Township (Illinois) High School District's win/win solution to negotiating teacher contracts. The district's new cooperative approach succeeded because the negotiating team was expanded (weakening the influence of adversarial-minded negotiators), and the system's best teachers were part of the bargaining team. A standing…

Using a random sample of 12,000 teachers in over 500 New York State school districts, this paper considers the effect of specific union-negotiated, employment-related job provisions on the job separations of individual teachers. Reductions in force and class-size limitations provisions reduce the probability of teacher resignations or dismissals.…

A school board member, pursuing literature findings on the relationship between classroom size and student achievement/quality instruction, discovers that data support "any hypotheses." The investigator concluded that educational research does not reflect actual student-teacher classroom interactions. (CJH)

The dynamics of teacher supply and demand cannot be understood, the authors argue, when there is no agreement on the definition of a teacher, the relationship between class size and teacher effectiveness, and the proper career pattern of a teacher. (MT)

Presents a structural equation model for understanding the relationship between salary incentives for teachers and class size and student achievement. Using data on student achievement in 102 Colorado school districts, finds that the model is moderately successful for explaining reading achievement, but factors not included in the model probably…

Class size in elementary grades has taken on added importance recently. Research on the topic is finally getting some attention. Legislative and administrative actions to reduce deficits are pushing for larger class sizes, in addition to eliminating nonessential curricular activities, such as music, drama, and art. In Florida, various institutions…

This study was designed to discover the nature of interactions between effective teachers in regular-sized classes with 25 or more students and small-size classes with fewer than 18 students. Eleven public school primary classrooms were observed, and the interactions between the teacher and students were studied. Verbal and nonverbal interactions…

Three "Lab" schools were established in 1994-1995 in Durham, North Carolina public schools solely to provide smaller classes for disadvantaged inner-city students. In addition, smaller class sizes were achieved in two additional elementary schools by "cashing in" teacher aides and other more judicious use of available funds.…

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…