published in: Evaluation Review, 2011, 35 (1), 71 - 92
Evidence from Project STAR has suggested that on average small classes increase student achievement. However, thus far researchers have focused on computing mean differences in student achievement between smaller and larger classes. In this study I focus on the distribution of the small class effects at the school level and compute the inconsistency of the treatment effects across schools. I use data from Project STAR and estimated small class effects for each school on mathematics and reading scores from kindergarten through third grade. The results revealed that school-specific small class effects are both positive and negative and that although students benefit considerably from being in small classes in some schools, in other schools being in small classes is a disadvantage. Small class effects were inconsistent and varied significantly across schools. Full time teacher aide effects were also inconsistent across schools and in some schools students benefit considerably from being in regular classes with a full time aide, while in other schools being in these classes is a disadvantage.
We use cookies to provide you with an optimal website experience. This includes cookies that are necessary for the operation of the site as well as cookies that are only used for anonymous statistical purposes, for comfort settings or to display personalized content. You can decide for yourself which categories you want to allow. Please note that based on your settings, you may not be able to use all of the site's functions.
Cookie settings
These necessary cookies are required to activate the core functionality of the website. An opt-out from these technologies is not available.
In order to further improve our offer and our website, we collect anonymous data for statistics and analyses. With the help of these cookies we can, for example, determine the number of visitors and the effect of certain pages on our website and optimize our content.