While Michigan students learn a variety of skills in their time at school, perhaps the most important charge of public schools, beyond providing a safe and healthy environment, is to ensure that students are learning their three fundamental skills: reading, writing and arithmetic. Unfortunately, the achievement levels of Michigan public school…

This study investigated issues that impact attrition, migration and retention of special education teachers in Alabama. The sample comprised 70 teachers designated as "highly-qualified" who responded to a job satisfaction instrument, with a focus on retention issues, developed by Levine (2001). The results indicated that the major…

A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted of Gordon, Kane, and Staiger's (2006) proposal to raise student achievement by identifying and replacing the bottom quartile of novice teachers, using value-added assessment of teacher performance. The cost effectiveness of this proposal was compared to the cost effectiveness of voucher programs, charter…

Generally speaking, classes of fewer than thirty are healthier and more productive for children, and lay persons and educators should keep that in mind when considering the class size issue. (Author)

Results from a 1985 poll show that teacher's perceptions of ideal and actual class sizes and their effectiveness in the classroom are affected by their attitudes, age, experiences, and priorities. Includes three tables. (MD)

The current debate about class size is not centered on whether smaller class sizes are desirable. Rather, the debate is whether the costs involved are the best ways to spend taxpayers' monies. This analysis addresses this question for the state of Florida. Using the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test as a measure of educational achievement, a…

Debate about teacher supply, demand, retention, and attrition has been renewed in recent years by an increased concern about the reduced numbers of prospective teachers entering teacher education programs, the high attrition rate of beginning teachers, and the resulting teacher shortages. U.S. schools are experiencing teacher shortages, especially…

IT IS THE CONSENSUS OF RESEARCH REPORTS THAT THE CRITICAL VARIABLE IN TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IS THE QUALITY OF THE TEACHING AND OF THE SUBSEQUENT LEARNING, NOT CLASS SIZE. OF THE VARIOUS METHODS USED TO OBTAIN QUALITY TEACHING, PROBLEM-ORIENTED APPROACHES TO TEACHING PRODUCED MORE AND BETTER LEARNING THAN ANY OTHER METHOD.…

This PREP package attempts to provide answers to some basic questions on teaching. The topics considered are class size, lectures versus discussions, student versus instructor-centered teaching, student versus teacher-led discussions, print material and programmed learning, independent study, simulation, and student characteristics of…

Two chapters in this theme issue review the evidence in support of smaller class size. Two other chapters examine factors that enable a teacher to teach effectively in large classes. Three research studies present additional class-size data, including the fact that teachers do not appear to maximize the potential of smaller classes. (Author/SLD)

There is significant public policy concern that teacher salaries in the United States are insufficient to make teaching in public schools financially attractive; consequently, there are not enough high-quality teachers. This concern has been particularly acute of late for two reasons. First, new empirical research shows teacher quality to be the…

In this report, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) takes a close look at the governance of the teaching profession and finds that state legislators and other state-level policymakers crafting state laws and regulation, not those bargaining at the local level, decide some of the most important rules governing the teaching profession.…

In this study, the authors make use of an unusual property of a data set from Bogota--whereby some teachers teach math to more than one group of students--to determine the roles of teacher quality, peer group composition, and class size. They show that all three have effects on student achievement. They also show that the average attributes of…

Discusses a study that explored the student achievement differentials in small (fewer than 50) versus large (more than 50) classes. Determined that there was no significant difference in the perception of learning between the two class sections. (JOW)