A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Class Size and Students At Risk: What is Known?... What is Next? - April 1998

Foreword

This report is an overview of recent research on the effects of class size on the academic performance and behavior of students at risk. In several ways, it is not a conventional literature review. It emphasizes one recent large-scale investigation, Tennessee's Project STAR (Student-Teacher Achievement Ratio). It is more evaluative than most reviews of research, emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of the studies cited. It stresses the need for future research more than the typical literature review.

All of these features were requested by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) in the work statement for the preparation of this report. The purpose of the review is to advise OERI, particularly the National Institute on the Education of At-Risk Students, on the implications of recent research on class size for the design of early educational interventions for at-risk students, for education policy, and for further research on class size. The first of four stated priorities was to address the question "How conclusive is this research?" Beyond the review of research on small classes, the work statement called for a discussion of "approaches that can be taken to assess the costs and benefits of reducing class size" and "the implications of small class size for classroom management and instructional strategies." The final task was to address "the implications of these findings for future research on class size" and to identify "some key questions that should be investigated."

The request to evaluate the conclusiveness of the findings was right on target. Many school districts and states are currently undertaking some form of small-class initiative, with substantial expenditures of money and effort. In other words, the implications of this research for guiding school policy are profound and there must be certainty that the costs are warranted. At the same time, Project STAR is unique in its design and magnitude. Unlike most educational research, it has the ability to provide tight cause-and-effect conclusions. We are in the unusual position of being able to evaluate a practice that appeals to many educators and which may have a tangible impact on the academic performance of students.

Although STAR provides some answers about the effectiveness of small classes, to date it provides only hints about other related questions. The key questions that remain include the long-term consequences of attending a small class, the interactions of instructional processes with class size, and the particular impact of small classes on students at risk. Other past and current studies provide some answers to these questions and more than a few hypotheses. Yet there remains a tremendous amount of work to be done. The extensive research agenda given in this report was developed, not only because it was requested by OERI, but because it identifies a large number of unanswered but pressing educational concerns.

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