A 1985 study based on a Tennessee experiment found that reducing class sizes for low-income kindergarten and first-grade students produced “modest but lasting” academic gains. And, according to USA Today, states across the country used that study to justify decades-long, classroom size-cutting boom, and not for just the first two years of elementary school. In 1993, the average elementary class size nationally was 24; by 2007, it had dropped to 20.

But given the ongoing tough economic climate and continuing state budget cuts, the paper says that trend is likely to be reversed, with class sizes expected to inch back up. A bad thing? Maybe not, particularly if increases in student numbers aren’t huge. Newer studies haven’t found many, if any, strong links between smaller classes and better grades. In 2002, Florida voters approved an amendment to cut class sizes in all grades. It’s cost the state $16 billion so far, and will cost another $353 million this year. But a Harvard study found that the law had no affect on student achievement.

So, in November, state voters are being asked to approve a loosening of the amendment. Experts tell USA Today that only impoverished children in the very earliest grades are positively affected by smaller classes, and that school districts can compensate for larger classes by hiring more effective teachers.

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Filed under: K-12 Education News

Tags: Education Policy, Elementary Education, Public Policy, Research on Learning