Class size

Future of Children

Volumn 7, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 112-121

  Lewit, Eugene M ^a   Baker, Linda Schuurmann ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EDUCATION; GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION; POPULATION DENSITY; RESOURCE ALLOCATION; REVIEW; SCHOOL; STUDENT; TEACHING;

EID: 0031403549     PISSN: 10548289     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/1602449     Document Type: Review

References (27)

1. Hart and Teeter Research Companies. NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll, question 108. March 1997.
2. Edwards, V.B., ed. School climate. Education Week (January 22, 1997) 16,17 (supplement):48. Available online at http://www.edweek.org.
3. Finn, J.D., and Achilles, C.M. Answers and questions about class size: A statewide experiment. American Educational Research Journal (Fall 1990) 27,3:557-77.
4. Schwartz, J. Class size reduction. Sacramento: Legislative Analyst's Office, State of California, February 12, 1997, pp. 7-8. Available online at http://www.lao.ca.gov/class_size_297.html.
5. For a discussion of the Project STAR results, see Mosteller, F. The Tennessee study of class size in the early school grades. The Future of Children (Summer/Fall 1995) 5,2:113-27; Word, E., Johnston, J., Bain, H.P., et al. Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR): Tennessee's K-3 class size study. Final Summary Report 1985-1990. Nashville: Tennessee Department of Education, 1990, p. 35.
6. For a discussion of the Project STAR results, see Mosteller, F. The Tennessee study of class size in the early school grades. The Future of Children (Summer/Fall 1995) 5,2:113-27; Word, E., Johnston, J., Bain, H.P., et al. Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR): Tennessee's K-3 class size study. Final Summary Report 1985-1990. Nashville: Tennessee Department of Education, 1990, p. 35.
7. Tomlinson, T.M. Class size and public policy: Politics and panaceas. Educational Policy (1989) 3,3:261-73.
8. For a review of the class size literature, see Blatchford, P., and Mortimore, P. The issue of class size for young children in schools: What can we learn from research? Oxford Review of Education (1994) 20,4:411-28. For a discussion of the Project STAR results, see note no. 5, Mosteller.
9. The SASS was conducted in 1987-88, 1990-91, and 1993-94. In the future it will be administered at five-year intervals. Broughman, Steve. Statistician, National Center for Education Statistics. Personal communication, April 23, 1997; National Center for Education Statistics. Schools and staffing in the United States: A statistical profile, 1993-94. NCES 96-124. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1996, p. 1.
10. See note no. 8, Broughman.
11. Educational Research Service. School staffing ratios, 1994-95. Arlington, VA: ERS, 1995, p. 2.
12. Brown, Melinda. Director of Salary and Compensation Studies, Educational Research Service. Personal communication, May 22, 1997.
13. This does not include substitute teachers. Miles, K.H. Freeing resources for improving schools: A case study of teacher allocation in Boston public schools. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis (1995) 17,4:476-93.
14. See note no. 12, Miles.
15. Education Commission of the States. Class size: State legislation grid. Denver, CO: Education Commission of the States, April 7, 1997.
16. Picus, L.O. The allocation and use of educational resources: District level evidence from the Schools and Staffing Survey. New Brunswick, NJ: Consortium for Policy Research in Education, January 1993, p. 67.
17. These ratios come from state reports of the number of teachers and student enrollment. They include special education students and teachers, with the exception of severely disabled students enrolled in state-run schools in some states. Snyder, T.D., ed. 120 years of American education: A statistical portrait. NCES 93-442. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, January 1993, pp. 46-48, Table 14; National Center for Education Statistics. Schools and staffing in the United States: A statistical profile, 1993-94. NCES 96-124. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1996, p. 3, Table 1.2.
18. These ratios come from state reports of the number of teachers and student enrollment. They include special education students and teachers, with the exception of severely disabled students enrolled in state-run schools in some states. Snyder, T.D., ed. 120 years of American education: A statistical portrait. NCES 93-442. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, January 1993, pp. 46-48, Table 14; National Center for Education Statistics. Schools and staffing in the United States: A statistical profile, 1993-94. NCES 96-124. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 1996, p. 3, Table 1.2.
19. This survey of public school teachers at all grade levels has been conducted every five years since 1956. Whiting, Brooke. Senior Professional Associate, National Education Association. Personal communication, April 25, 1997.
20. Lewit, E.M., and Baker, L.S. Child indicators: Children in special education. The Future of Children (Spring 1996) 6,1:139-51.
21. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Digest of education statistics, 1996. NCES 96-133. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, 1996, p. 160, Table 163.
22. McKenna, B. Some philosophical, organizational, and definitional considerations. In Class size. Reference and Resource Series. Washington, DC: National Education Association, 1977, pp. 8-15; Whiting, Brooke. Senior Professional Associate, National Education Association. Personal communication, May 1997.
23. McKenna, B. Some philosophical, organizational, and definitional considerations. In Class size. Reference and Resource Series. Washington, DC: National Education Association, 1977, pp. 8-15; Whiting, Brooke. Senior Professional Associate, National Education Association. Personal communication, May 1997.
24. California SB1414. Education code Section 52123(g), see question numbers 92, revised 15, revised 16, and revised 28.
25. See note no. 4, Schwartz, pp. 12-13.
26. Schools with 20% to 49% of the students in the free lunch program must bring their ratio to an average (per building) of 20 to 1 with a maximum class size of 25. Schools with 50% to 69% of students receiving free lunches must bring their ratio down to 18 to 1 with a maximum class size of 22, and schools with 70% or more students receiving free lunches must bring their ratio to 15 to 1 with a maximum class size of 20. Virginia Omnibus Educational Act of 1995. Code of Virginia, §§22.1-199.1A. Enacted 5/95; see note no. 14, Education Commission of the States, p. 5. Atkinson, Diane. Principal Policy Analyst, Division of Policy and Public Affairs, Virginia Department of Education. Personal communication, April 21, 1997.
27. Mississippi, for example, mandates only pupil-teacher ratios in education accreditation requirements. See Burnham, T. Accreditation requirements of the state board of education. Bulletin 171, 12th ed., rev. Jackson: Mississippi Department of Education, August 1996, p. 33.