IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp2904.html

Do Small Classes Reduce the Achievement Gap between Low and High Achievers? Evidence from Project STAR

Author

Listed:
  • Konstantopoulos, Spyros

    (Michigan State University)

Abstract

Given that previous findings on the social distribution of the effects of small classes have been mixed and inconclusive, in the present study I attempted to shed light on the mechanism through which small classes affect the achievement of low- and high-achieving students. I used data from a 4-year large-scale randomized experiment (project STAR) to examine the effects of small classes on the achievement gap. The sample consisted of nearly 11,000 elementary school students who participated in the experiment from kindergarten to grade 3. Meta-analysis and quantile regression methods were employed to examine the effects of small classes on the achievement gap in mathematics and reading SAT scores. The results consistently indicated that higher-achieving students benefited more from being in small classes in early grades than other students. The findings also indicated that although all types of students benefited from being in small classes, reductions in class size did not reduce the achievement gap between low and high achievers.

Suggested Citation

  • Konstantopoulos, Spyros, 2007. "Do Small Classes Reduce the Achievement Gap between Low and High Achievers? Evidence from Project STAR," IZA Discussion Papers 2904, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2904
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp2904.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Koenker, Roger W & Bassett, Gilbert, Jr, 1978. "Regression Quantiles," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 33-50, January.
    2. Moshe Buchinsky, 1998. "Recent Advances in Quantile Regression Models: A Practical Guideline for Empirical Research," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 33(1), pages 88-126.
    3. Krueger, Alan B & Whitmore, Diane M, 2001. "The Effect of Attending a Small Class in the Early Grades on College-Test Taking and Middle School Test Results: Evidence from Project STAR," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 111(468), pages 1-28, January.
    4. Stephen W. Raudenbush & Anthony S. Bryk, 1987. "Examining Correlates of Diversity," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 12(3), pages 241-269, September.
    5. Samuel Bowles & Henry M. Levin, 1968. "The Determinants of Scholastic Achievement-An Appraisal of Some Recent Evidence," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 3(1), pages 3-24.
    6. Hanushek, Eric A, 1986. "The Economics of Schooling: Production and Efficiency in Public Schools," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 24(3), pages 1141-1177, September.
    7. Alan B. Krueger, 1999. "Experimental Estimates of Education Production Functions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 497-532.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kappius, Robert, 2011. "Der Bildungsmonitor 2011: Ein Indikator für Bildungsgerechtigkeit?," The Constitutional Economics Network Working Papers 03-2011, University of Freiburg, Department of Economic Policy and Constitutional Economic Theory.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Oliveira, Pedro Rodrigues de & Belluzzo, Walter & Pazello, Elaine Toldo, 2013. "The public–private test score gap in Brazil," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 120-133.
    2. Maria De Paola & Michela Ponzo & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2013. "Class size effects on student achievement: heterogeneity across abilities and fields," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 135-153, March.
    3. Konstantopoulos, Spyros & Sun, Min, 2011. "Is the Persistence of Teacher Effects in Early Grades Larger for Lower-Performing Students?," IZA Discussion Papers 5974, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Wo[ss]mann, Ludger & West, Martin, 2006. "Class-size effects in school systems around the world: Evidence from between-grade variation in TIMSS," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 695-736, April.
    5. Ma, Lingjie & Koenker, Roger, 2006. "Quantile regression methods for recursive structural equation models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 471-506, October.
    6. Gilpin, Gregory A., 2012. "Teacher salaries and teacher aptitude: An analysis using quantile regressions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 15-29.
    7. Heinesen, Eskil, 2004. "Determinants of local public school expenditure: a dynamic panel data model," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 429-453, July.
    8. Simone Dobbelsteen & Jesse Levin & Hessel Oosterbeek, 2002. "The causal effect of class size on scholastic achievement: distinguishing the pure class size effect from the effect of changes in class composition," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 64(1), pages 17-38, February.
    9. Ludger Wößmann, 2003. "European education production functions: what makes a difference for student achievement in Europe?," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 190, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    10. Wößmann, Ludger, 2001. "New Evidence on the Missing Resource-Performance Link in Education," Kiel Working Papers 1051, Kiel Institute for the World Economy.
    11. Antecol, Heather & Eren, Ozkan & Ozbeklik, Serkan, 2013. "The effect of Teach for America on the distribution of student achievement in primary school: Evidence from a randomized experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 113-125.
    12. Konstantopoulos, Spyros & Constant, Amelie F., 2005. "The Gender Gap Reloaded: Is School Quality Linked to Labor Market Performance?," IZA Discussion Papers 1830, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Margaret Stevens & Kathryn Graddy, 2003. "The Impact of School Inputs on Student Performance: An Empirical Study of Private Schools in the United Kingdom," Economics Series Working Papers 146, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    14. Kathryn Graddy & Margaret Stevens, 2005. "The Impact of School Resources on Student Performance: A Study of Private Schools in the United Kingdom," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 58(3), pages 435-451, April.
    15. Maximilian Bach & Stephan Sievert, 2025. "Birth Cohort Size Variation and the Estimation of Class Size Effects," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 60(2), pages 578-606.
    16. Eric R. Eide & Mark H. Showalter & David P. Sims, 2002. "The Effects Of Secondary School Quality On The Distribution Of Earnings," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 20(2), pages 160-170, April.
    17. Stevens, Margaret & Graddy, Kathryn, 2003. "The Impact of School Inputs on Student Performance: An Empirical Study of Private Schools in the UK," CEPR Discussion Papers 3776, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Bedard, Kelly, 2003. "School quality and the distribution of male earnings in Canada," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 395-407, August.
    19. Maria De Paola & Vincenzo Scoppa, 2011. "The Effects Of Class Size On The Achievement Of College Students," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 79(6), pages 1061-1079, December.
    20. Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, 2015. "Current themes in education policy in the United States," Chapters, in: John Karl Scholz & Hyungypo Moon & Sang-Hyup Lee (ed.), Social Policies in an Age of Austerity, chapter 7, pages 165-180, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2904. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.