Reducing Class Size: Project STAR

Tennessee's Project Star (Student-Teacher Achievement Ratio) is the largest, longest-lasting, and most controlled study to date on class size. The study compared classes of 13 to 17 students with classes of 22 to 26 students, both with and without instructional aides in the larger classes. The STAR study has provided key research on smaller class size, showing that students in smaller classes outperform similar students in larger classes. Project STAR demonstrated that students in smaller classes scored higher than students in larger classes on standardized and curriculum-based tests. This was true for white and minority students and for students from inner-city, urban, suburban, and rural schools. In each grade, minorities and disadvantaged students enjoyed greater small-class advantages than whites on some or all measures. In addition, a smaller proportion of students in the smaller classes were retained, and there was more early identification of students' special needs.

The Project Star experiment has been followed by the Lasting Benefits Study. To date, the research findings show higher academic achievement levels for the students from the smaller classes persisting through at least the eighth grade.

(from: U.S. Department of Education. (1999, May). Taking responsibility for ending social promotion: A guide for educators and local officials. Available online: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/socialpromotion/ )