What About Class Size Reduction?

Class size reduction is on the governor’s mind. It’s on the minds of many policymakers, business leaders, teachers and parents whose genuine concern is reforming public education in the fastest, best way possible.

Will class size reduction bring about the desired results? Information behind the governor’s own analysis says that class size reduction is not the best use of scarce resources to bring about the desired result of increased student academic achievement. Governor Locke hinges his multi-million dollar class size reduction argument on the Tennessee STAR project; the Wisconsin SAGE experiment, and data from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC).

The SAGE experiment, which showed some academic improvement when class sizes were reduced, did not control for other critical variables, such as significant changes in curriculum, alterations in expected learner outcomes, and the experience/proficiency of classroom teachers. Was the small increase in student achievement in the SAGE project due to redefined student objectives, different curriculum, more experienced teachers, or all three? No one knows.

Tennessee’s STAR project, on the other hand, was designed to control most of the critical variables. The final analysis from the multi-year, multi-million dollar experiment was that class size reductions may improve student achievement in the early years — kindergarten and first grade. By fourth and fifth grade, no residual results can be determined.

The National Conference of State Legislators says, "While positive results have been demonstrated in Tennessee and Wisconsin, other research finds little connection between student-teacher ratios and student performance, especially when measured against other types of educational reforms."

The governor uses tables from a JLARC report to support class size reductions. He uses them out of context. The conclusion reached in the JLARC report states: "Among education-related factors, smaller student-teacher ratios can improve performance, although improving teacher quality may improve student performance more and be more cost-effective....Reorganizing the use of school time and resources would also be a more cost-effective way to improve performance."

The most comprehensive review of class size studies ever undertaken was completed in 1998 by Rochester University Professor Eric Hanushek. After surveying 277 studies on the correlation between student-teacher ratios and student achievement, Professor Hanushek concluded, "There is little reason to believe that smaller class sizes systematically yield higher student achievement. While some studies point in that direction, an almost equal number point in the opposite."

Are some classes too large? Yes. Will reductions in large classes help students learn more? Sometimes. These decisions are best made building by building and teacher by teacher; not in the marbled halls of our State Capitol.

Prepared by Lynn Harsh, Senior Research Analyst (360) 956-3482 or lharsh@effwa.org

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org