Introduction
Editors:
Sabrina W.M. Laine, North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, &
James G. Ward, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
A recent article in Education Week, "The Class Size Pendulum," asks whether class-size reductions are here to stay. This question highlights the fact that the relationship between class size and student achievement has been controversial for more than two decades in the United States. Although some studies have concluded that reducing class size brings moderate improvement in long-term achievement, others have found no such improvement. Although class size has been a prominent feature of the educational landscape for many years, debate over the effectiveness of reducing class size has increased since 1999, when Charles Achilles and his colleagues conducted their groundbreaking study of Tennessee's Project STAR (Achilles, 1999). The subsequent analysis of the data from this study and others has enriched the debate, especially in the area of costs versus benefits.
The costs and benefits of class-size reduction were the topic of a research forum sponsored by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) in October 1999. The forum brought together leading scholars on class-size reduction from a variety of perspectives and disciplines to discuss the potential benefits and costs of class-size reduction. However, the discussion often centered on the practical challenges of reducing class size rather than the more theoretical question of whether class-size reduction is a good idea. Indeed, the conversations raised the participants' awareness of wider issues not directly related to costs, including the following: What are the relative benefits of reducing class size compared to other types of reforms? How do the changes in instructional approach and school organization that accompany smaller classes affect student achievement? Can schools improve achievement by implementing these instructional and organizational changes without actually reducing class sizes? What practical advice does research offer policymakers and school administrators in states where reducing class size is educational policy?
Answering some of these questions to help state and local policymakers implement class-size reduction policies is the primary goal of this project. Following a year of study funded by NCREL, researchers from Michigan State University, Stanford University, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee present new information on the costs and bene-fits of reduced class size and offer practical advice on implementing class-size reduction policies. In addition to their new research, this collection of essays includes interviews with local educational administrators and real-world examples of how class-size reduction policies at the state and district level are affecting instructional practice. These essays examine this significant educational issue from a variety of perspectives.
The book begins with an overview of the research on this important educational trend. In chapter one, John Witte from the University of Wisconsin-Madison examines the cost-benefit issues involved in class-size reduction. This chapter compares three programs that provide the most recent data on class-size reduction: Tennessee's Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) study, Wisconsin's Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program, and the Class Size Reduction (CSR) program in California. Each program is distinct and in a different stage of analysis, but all three enhance our knowledge of this policy.
There is little doubt that reducing class size benefits both teachers and students, but so can providing better textbooks, improving technology, expanding professional development opportunities for teachers, and increasing teacher salaries—all options that policymakers must consider. However, budget constraints in most districts require policymakers to make tough choices from among these programs. Making those choices even tougher is the lack of information available to policymakers to help them decide which combination of changes will best serve their district or school.
In chapter two, Doug Harris and David Plank of Michigan State University examine the use of cost-effectiveness analysis to support more informed policy decisions. Comparing policies aimed at increasing the number of teachers (decreasing class size) with those intended to increase the quality of teachers, they question whether reducing class size is the most cost-effective way to improve student achievement. After examining the costs and benefits of these two policies, Harris and Plank suggest that greater improvements in student performance might be achieved by enhancing teacher quality rather than reducing class size.
As researchers study class-size reduction from a policy perspective, they often focus on the effects of smaller class size on student performance. However, research generally neglects the effects of smaller class sizes on teachers. The literature tends to concentrate on teaching techniques that accompany smaller classes, such as classroom management and time-on-task, to which achievement gains are largely attributed. But how does class size affect overall teacher satisfaction? What are its implications for teacher labor markets?
Chapter three, written by Eric Hanushek and Javier Luque at Stanford University in California, examines how class-size policy—along with other working conditions—affects the teacher's salary and the teacher labor market. To estimate the cost of specific policy changes, they argue, it is essential to understand how a range of working conditions affect salaries and teacher retention.
One of the fundamental questions raised by class-size reduction policies is whether or not smaller class sizes help teachers teach more effectively. In chapter four, John Zahorik, Alex Molnar, Karen Ehrle, and Anke Halbach from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee examine effective teaching in reduced-size classes. A close look at a study of the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program in Wisconsin suggests how class size influences teacher effectiveness.
SAGE illustrates the results of reducing class size to 15 students in approximately 300 first-grade classrooms across Wisconsin. Early results of the program indicate that reducing class size improves student academic performance. The study observed achievement gains in reduced-size classes in reading, language arts, and mathematics that are significantly higher than gains in larger first-grade classes.
Overall, first-grade students in the SAGE program performed better than students from comparable schools outside of the program, although there were variations in test score gains among the SAGE schools. Some SAGE first-grade teachers clearly are having more success than others. This study strives to find out why.
The question that Ray Legler from NCREL addresses in chapter five is how class-size reduction is implemented at the school and district level. This essay offers practical words of caution, advice, and encouragement from the Milwaukee district superintendent, other leading administrators, and a school principal who all have lived and worked through the nuts-and-bolts of reducing class size at the ground level.
Jim Ward and Sabrina Laine discuss the implications of class-size research for school leaders in chapter six. This chapter offers insights on the major issues as well as practical suggestions for school leaders involved in class-size reduction. Most important, Ward and Laine list questions that state and federal policymakers should ask and answer while considering additional funding for new class-size reduction initiatives or expanding existing state- and district-level pilot programs, such as those in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Chapter six is followed by a list of resources and references that includes an annotated selection of books, journal articles, and Web sites for practitioners seeking additional information on the costs and benefits of class-size reduction policies and the effects of class size on achievement.
Whether you are implementing class-size reduction policies at the school or district level, considering new state legislation to reduce class size, or studying existing class-size reduction initiatives, this collection of essays will enhance your decision-making process. Few educational policies have the staying power of class-size reduction initiatives—due in large part to their intuitive appeal to parents and teachers—and therefore the research on this issue needs to go beyond debating the pros and cons to real examples of how class-size reduction works in practice. As a regional educational laboratory, NCREL serves audiences ranging from parents and teachers to congressional staffers in our seven-state region. For that reason, this book is intended to serve a variety of audiences struggling to decide how best to allocate resources to benefit teachers and students at every level of the educational system.
