Class Size Doesn't Matter

The notion that class size has no bearing on student learning is a common claim, yet the Tennessee STAR experiment, a large-scale randomized study initiated in 1985, demonstrated otherwise. This project, involving over 11,000 students, found that smaller classes of 13-17 students per teacher in kindergarten through third grade led to significantly better academic achievement compared to regular-sized classes of 22-25 students. The benefits were particularly pronounced for disadvantaged students and persisted through high school, with students from smaller classes attending college at higher rates. While some research on class size has yielded ambiguous results, the Project STAR study provides strong evidence for the positive impact of reduced class sizes in early education.