August 19, 2017

-In the mid-80's, in Tennessee, an educational research experiment called Project STAR was conducted to assess the effects of classroom size reduction on learning as measured through a combination of standardized and curriculum based assessments.

-The significance of Project STAR lay in its methodology of random assignment. By randomly assigning students, the design of the study sought to control for the other social effects such as gender, race, and school district. It was an attempt at using the experimental method to cut through the complexity inherent in social science research at a large scale.

Students were randomly assigned given the controls to one of three possible classroom sizes: -small classes (13-17 students) -regular classes with an aide (22-25 students) -regular classes (22-25 students)

-The two plots that follow in the slides show the impact of classroom size reduction. While classroom size reduction is shown to have an impact, the impact is small but practically costly. More teachers and a reorganization of space is required. The most beneficial effects are in Kindergarden, shown in the plots that follow.