Study confirms class sizes really do matter
01/02/2015

 

Some lawmakers have come to mistakenly believe that class sizes don’t matter anymore. However, the Washington Post reports on a new study focused on class size from Northwestern University that again proves what educators have been telling policymakers for years.

 

The study makes the following recommendations:

 

• Class size is an important determinant of student outcomes, and one that can be directly determined by policy. All else being equal, increasing class sizes will harm student outcomes.
• The evidence suggests that increasing class size will harm not only children’s test scores in the short run, but also their long-run human capital formation. Money saved today by increasing class sizes will result in more substantial social and educational costs in the future.
• The payoff from class-size reduction is greater for low-income and minority children, while any increases in class size will likely be most harmful to these populations.
• Policymakers should carefully weigh the efficacy of class-size policy against other potential uses of funds. While lower class size has a demonstrable cost, it may prove the more cost-effective policy overall.

The entire study can be read here.