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Descriptors:
Small Classes; Grade 3; Resource Allocation; Teacher Salaries; Academic Achievement; Class Size; Correlation; Elementary Schools; School Districts; Educational Policy; Student Characteristics; Minority Groups; Gender Differences; Socioeconomic Influences

Abstract:
The effects of class size on academic achievement have been studied for decades. Although the results of small-scale, randomized experiments and large-scale, econometric studies point to positive effects of small classes, some scholars see the evidence as ambiguous. Recent analyses from a 4-year, large-scale, randomized experiment on the effects of class size (Project STAR in Tennessee) provide evidence that small classes in the early grades lead to increased academic achievement. A major question is whether these benefits of small classes are uniformly distributed across schools and districts. The analyses reported here suggest that class size effects at the 3rd grade vary across districts and that the variation in effects is linked to average teacher salaries in those districts. The question of how to allocate resources to most effectively further the aims of educational systems is one of the enduring questions facing educational researchers and policymakers. Among the most fundamental allocation decisions is the decision of how to assign instructional staff to classes. This includes the decision of how large classes should be and whether ancillary instructional staff, such as classroom aides, should be used. Manipulating class size is a policy option that is gaining increasing attention throughout the nation. In the last two decades many states have adopted policies that reduce class sizes with the goal of improving achievement, and class size reduction often is included in state and local education initiatives. Although decisions about resource allocation (and class size in particular) are made in every educational system, there is serious debate about whether these allocation decisions influence academic achievement and other desired outcomes of education. This research investigates whether assignment to small classes affects academic achievement and, if so, how those effects are distributed across schools with different social compositions and teacher characteristics. The variable of local district teacher salary and its effects is also investigated. (Contains 2 tables and 13 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Social Distribution; Outcomes of Education; Minority Groups; Educational Objectives; Demography; Disadvantaged; Class Size; Small Classes

Abstract:
Recent research from randomized experiments on class size points to positive effects of small classes that persist for several years, but the evidence about the social distribution of effects is less clear. Some scholars have contended that the immediate effects of small classes are larger for minorities and for disadvantaged persons (e.g., J. D. Finn & C. M. Achilles, 1990). Those claims have led to policies of class size reduction specifically to reduce inequality in educational outcomes. The authors used data from a 5-year follow-up to Project STAR to investigate whether differential effects of small classes on achievement for minority students persist. A repeated measures analysis suggested that there was a statistically significant, positive differential lasting benefit of 4 years for minorities enrolled in small classes in reading, and a negative differential lasting benefit for girls enrolled in small classes in mathematics over 5 years following the experiment. Thus, it appears that the lasting benefits of 4 years of small classes may reduce racial and ethnic inequality in reading and gender inequality in mathematics.Key words: minority students, Project STAR, reading and mathematics, small class size Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Program Effectiveness; Teaching Experience; Achievement Gains; Teacher Effectiveness; Academic Achievement; Mathematics Achievement; Teacher Influence; Reading Achievement; Mathematics Achievement; Socioeconomic Status

Abstract:
It is widely accepted that teachers differ in their effectiveness, yet the empirical evidence regarding teacher effectiveness is weak. The existing evidence is mainly drawn from econometric studies that use covariates to attempt to control for selection effects that might bias results. We use data from a four-year experiment in which teachers and students were randomly assigned to classes to estimate teacher effects on student achievement. Teacher effects are estimated as between-teacher (but within school) variance components of achievement status and residualized achievement gains. Our estimates of teacher effects on achievement gains are similar in magnitude to those of previous econometric studies, but we find larger effects on mathematics achievement than on reading achievement. The estimated relation of teacher experience with student achievement gains is substantial, but is statistically significant only for 2nd-grade reading and 3rd-grade mathematics achievement. We also find much larger teacher effect variance in low socioeconomic status (SES) schools than in high SES schools. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Class Size; Elementary Education; Elementary School Students; Low Achievement

Abstract:
Studied possible effects of small classes on achievement using data from Project STAR, a 4-year, large-scale randomized experiment on the effects of class size. There were unambiguous positive effects of small classes on achievement, but no evidence for differentially larger effects of small classes for lower achieving students. (SLD)

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Descriptors:
Class Size; Elementary Education; Elementary School Students; High School Students; High Schools; Mathematics Achievement; Minority Groups; Small Classes

Abstract:
Conducted a 6-year followup of almost 4,000 students in Project STAR in Tennessee, a 4-year, large-scale randomized experiment on the effects of class size. Though follow-up data could not be obtained on more than one-half of the students, class size effects persisted for at least 6 years and remained large enough to be of importance for educational policy. Results show the lasting benefits of class size reduction in early grades. (SLD) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Class Size; Elementary Education; Small Classes; Teacher Student Ratio

Abstract:
Used data from Tennessee's Project STAR, a longitudinal class size experiment, to study the cumulative effects of reduced class size in the early grades on academic achievement. Results indicated that controlling for achievement in the previous year, small classes in grades 1-3 yielded statistically significant additional positive effects on reading and mathematics achievement. (SM)

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Elementary Education; Elementary School Students; Homework; Parent Participation; Parent Role; Parents; Performance Based Assessment

Abstract:
Tested a model of the influence of homework on classroom performance using a sample of 429 students in grades 2 and 4, their parents, and their 28 teachers. Data reveal the critical role of parents in both the homework process and the success of elementary school students. Positive parent involvement in homework was the strongest predictor of grades. (SLD)

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Class Size; Disadvantaged Youth; Elementary Secondary Education; Mathematics Achievement; Minority Group Children; Reading Achievement; Socioeconomic Status

Abstract:
Investigates differential effects of small classes on academic achievement among disadvantaged elementary students using data from Tennessee's Student Achievement Ratio Project. While positive effects of small classes are evident on both reading and mathematics achievement, there is no evidence of differential effects for low socioeconomic status students and only weak evidence of differential effects for minority students in reading achievement. (SM) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Class Size; Educational Policy; Elementary Education; Urban Schools

Abstract:
Analyzed results from a 4-year large-scale randomized experiment on the effects of class size, project STAR in Tennessee. Analyses suggest class size effects that are large enough to be important for educational policy and that are quite consistent across schools. Small classes appear to benefit all kinds of students. (SLD)

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Class Size; Educational Policy; Educational Research; Elementary Education; Followup Studies; Research Utilization; Small Classes; Teacher Student Ratio

Abstract:
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 policy. (SLD)

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