Small Class Size and It’s Effects Kacie Pashinski Article by Bruce J. Biddle & David C. Berliner “…the impact of class size on student achievement may be more plentiful than for any other issue in education…”

Early Small Field Experiments Experiments on class size began to appear in the 1920’s. Informal reviews of these experiments began in the 1960’s. Meta-analysis, a more “sophisticated” research method, began by the late 70’s. The American Foundation for Teachers states that these studies “provide compelling evidence that reducing class size, particularly for younger children, will have a positive effect on student achievement.” On the contrary, the Heritage Foundation claims “there is no evidence that smaller class sizes alone lead to higher student achievement.”

So what does THIS evidence REALLY say? Greater gains in earlier grades More achievement in classes w/ fewer than 20 students HOWEVER… Most of the small field experiments involved “small samples, short-term exposure to small classes, only one measure of student success, and a single education context (such as one school or school district).”

Surveys “…providing evidence on the effects of class size by analyzing naturally occurring differences in schools…” Surveys began in the 1960’s with the “famous” Colman Report. Impacts on surveys are: class size, school funding, and the student-teacher ratio (the number of students divided by the number of teachers) *This report states that “student achievement is almost totally influenced by the students family and peers and not by the characteristics of their schools.” More large scale recently completed surveys concluded that long-term exposure to small class size in the early grades can be associated with student achievement.

Indiana Project Prime Time – Large Field Experiment A $300,000 two-year study on the effects of reducing class size for the early grades. Completed in 24 randomly selected Indiana public schools. The results were so “impressive that the state allocated funds to reduce class sizes in the first grade for all Indiana schools in ” It was implemented in grades K-3 by This reduced class sizes to no more than 18 students for every teacher.

Tennessee Project STAR – Large Field Experiment 4 year study Used to compare the achievement of early grade students that were assigned to: Standard Classes- 1 teacher w/ more than 20 students Supplemental Classes- 1 teacher & 1 teachers aide Small Classes- 1 teacher w/ about 15 students “…Gains from small classes in the early grades are larger when the class has fewer than 20 students.” These gains were substantially larger when a student had long- term exposure to the small classes.

Wisconsin’s SAGE Program Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) Focused on the needs of disadvantaged students Began a 5 year project for K-3 classes where at least 50% of their students were living below the poverty level The major intervention was to reduce class size to 15 students for each teacher. The findings indicated that the students with the smaller class sizes had larger gains in achievement tests in math, language arts, and reading.

The California Class Size Reduction Program Began in due to CA schools ranking last in the U.S. Reduced class size from the average of 28 students/class to no more than 20 students/class. (Some CA school were dealing with students in each classroom.) However, “inadequate funding imposed serious consequences on poorer school districts, which had to abolish other needed activities to afford hiring of teachers for smaller classes.” The results of the program have been “modest.” There have been minor advantages. However, lack of planning has lead CA to some serious problems such as teacher shortages and over-crowding in classrooms…

What We NOW Know About Small Classes When planned thoughtfully, small classes in the early grades can generate substantial gains for students These gains come when there are less than 20 students per class Students whose classes are small in the early grades retain their gains in standard size classrooms in the upper grades, middle school, and high school All types of students gain from small class sizes The gains associated with small class size apply equally to boys and girls Disadvantaged students carry greater gains in small class sizes from the early grades and beyond…

So ask yourself… How many students do you have in your classroom?