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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated
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To: LindyBill who wrote (2223)6/16/2003 8:01:49 PM
From: JohnM  Read Replies (3) of 793914
 
Crowd Control - An international look at the relationship between class size and student achievement.
by MARTIN R. WEST & LUDGER WOESSMANN - EDUCATION FIRST

Interesting piece and clearly part of an ongoing discussion among education "experts" as to the effects of class size. It's one data point, as the saying goes. But an interesting one.

If I were to do a serious critique of this piece, I would start with three methodological points.

1. The best data to demonstrate change in a population is comparable cohort longitudinal data. By that I mean, one needs data before and after and some way to determine whether differences came from some uncontrolled factor. My first read of this article suggests they compared seventh graders with eighth graders, which doesn't quite do the trick.

2. Cross cultural studies are terribly difficult to do well because of the difficulty of getting genuinely comparable measures, collecting data in genuinely comparable ways, etc. This article doesn't talk much about those issues. So a serious look at it would require a more careful look at it.

3. Measures of "achievement" are difficult to come up with. Sometimes they differ on conceptual grounds--good math and science scores may do it for one group but expanded imaginations and improved self confidence for another. And that difference is compounded here by cultural differences in what is "achievement" and, back to the previous point, how it is measured. Another reason to see this essay as part of an ongoing conversation rather than a definitive answer.

Thanks for find this stuff. You're trying to make me work hard. ;-)

This conclusion is about right. A bit more positive than I would state it but the "future research" part is the point.

This suggests that it may be better policy to devote the limited resources available for education to employing more capable teachers rather than to reducing class sizes. The merits of this admittedly speculative conclusion are a promising topic for future research.
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