Class Size And Student Achievement: Experimental Estimates Of Who Benefits And Who Loses From Reductions

Steven Lehrer ()
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Weili Ding

No 1046, Working Paper from Economics Department, Queen's University

Abstract: Class size proponents draw heavily on the results from Project STAR to support their initiatives. Adding to the political appeal of these initiative are reports that minority and economic disadvantaged students receive the largest benefits. To explore and truly understand the heterogeneous impacts of class size and student achievement requires more flexible estimation approaches. We consider several semi and nonparametric strategies and find strong evidence that i) higher ability students gain the most from class size reductions while many low ability students do not benefit from these reductions, ii) there are no significant benefits in reducing class size from 22 to 15 students in any subject area, iii) no additional benefits from class size reductions for minority or disadvantaged students, iv) significant heterogeneity in the effectiveness of class size reductions across schools and in parental and school behavioural responses.

Keywords: Class size; Academic performance; Project STAR; Economic disadvantaged students; Minority students (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2005-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:qed:wpaper:1046

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