Decreasing Class Size Enhances the Performance in Elementary School Stu

Decreasing Class Size Enhances the Performance in Elementary School Students Decreasing class size enhances the performance in elementary school students. In the studies that SAGE has done, their students appeared to have â€Å"a significant achievement advantage† in all areas (Study confirms, 2001). By the end of third grade, students in smaller classes seem to read more effectively and independently (Class Size Reduction, 2001). The advantages of smaller classes are also shown between races and social backgrounds. Tennessee’s 1970 test revealed that poor and African-American students had the greatest gains in smaller classes. Especially after kindergarten, the gains were usually two times that of whites (Class Size, 2001). Not only do the students and the school benefit from smaller classes, but also so does the entire state. After being in a reduced class of twenty students for three years, California’s research showed that test scores were better than those before the classes were reduced (Viadero, 2001). For the 1996-97 schoo l-year the Walnut Creek, CA school district, reduced its kindergarten classes to twenty students and to a maximum of twenty students in grades one through three. The following is a chart that shows the improvements of the kindergarten students from the first year of being in a reduced classroom. Skills % Mastered June 1996 % Mastered June 1997 Read a Picture Book (with a few repetitive words) 25 43 Identifies Letter Names 74 79 Concepts about Print (how to hold a book) 79 94 Letter Sounds (25-26) unknown 51 Can Read 15-20 words by sight 28 62 Hear and Record 10-14 sounds in words 56 73 (Class Size Reduction, nd). (... ...eek on the Web. Retrieved October9,2001 from http://www.edweek.com/ew/ewstory.cfm?slug=32class.h20. The growing case for smaller classes (May/June 2001). American Teacher, 85(8), 2. Retrieved September 30, 2001 from OCLC First Search/Wilson Select. Huston, Deborah & Ogawa, Rodney T. (1999). California’s class reduction initiative: Differences in teacher experience and qualifications across schools. Educational Policy, 13 (5), p. 659. Retrieved December 3, 2001 from Academic Search Premier/EBSCOhost database. Study confirms value of small class size (March 2001). American Teacher, 85(6), 2. Retrieved September 30, 2001 from OCLC First Search/Wilson Select. Zahorik, John A. (September 1999). Reducing class size leads to individual instruction. Educational Leadership, 57(1), 50-3. Retrieved September 30, 2001 from OCLC First Search/Wilson Select.