FOXNews.com

Class Size Issues

FOXNews.com

There have been close to 300 separate studies nation-wide on the relationship between class size and student achievement. Professor Eric Hanushek (search), an economist at the University of Rochester, reviewed these studies and discovered that only 15 percent of them suggest that reducing class size improves student learning as measured by standardized tests.

Indeed, in 72 percent of the studies reviewed, there was no statistically significant effect on measurable student achievement associated with smaller classes. Even more surprisingly, in 13 percent of the studies reviewed, student test scores actually declined as class size was reduced. In sum, a full 85 percent of all of the studies on class size and student achievement found that reducing class size did not improve student performance.