Project STAR

Project STAR was a four-year class-size study. In Project STAR, 7,000 students in 79 schools ranging in grades from kindergarten to third were randomly selected into one of three interventions. The first was a small class which was thirteen to seventeen students per teacher. The second, a regular class size with twenty two to twenty five students. The last was a regular-with-aide class which had twenty two to twenty five students with a full-time teacher’s aide. The teachers were then randomly assigned to a class they would teach.

The research reported many advantages to the smaller class sizes. Students in small classes are more likely to pursue college. It was also found that students who attended small classes in grades kindergarten through third achieve at higher levels. Research shows that these students were between six and thirteen months ahead of their regular-class peers in math, reading, and science when they reach higher grades.

 

As a follow-up to my last post, I would like to ask for feed-back on the topic. Does Project STAR provide enough evidence for you to believe smaller class sizes are better?

For more information on ProjectSTAR visit these links:

http://www.amazingkids.org/content.aspx?sectionid=3

http://www.heros-inc.org/star.htm