Small Classes in the Early Grades and Course Taking in High School

Abstract

Researchers examined the relationship between small-class participation in the first four years of school and course-takingpatterns in high school. Using original data from Tennessee’s Project STAR (Student-Teacher Achievement Ratio) withhigh school transcripts for 3,922 students from the STAR experiment, the hypothesis that class size is related to theamount and level of coursework taken in mathematics, science, and foreign language was tested. Results indicated thatstudents who spent three or more years in small classes took more foreign language courses, higher-level foreign languagecourses, and higher-level mathematics courses than did students in full-size classes. The possibility that small-classparticipation would benefit students with low socioeconomic status (SES) more than high-SES students was alsoexplored, but no evidence was found of an SES-specific effect. The results are discussed in terms of (a) using class-sizepolicies to promote the taking of advanced courses in high school, and (b) the need to consider long-term outcomeswhen evaluating class-size reduction initiatives.

Keywords

• education policy
• class size
• Tennessee STAR