Multiage (Nongraded) Research

The Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences has established a Multiage (Nongraded) Research Network with five Tennessee school systems. A collaborative action study is being conducted to determine if multiage programs have cognitive and social benefits for students in elementary school (K-5) and professional practice benefits for teachers and schools. In order to identify teachers and schools as collaborators for the study, the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences staff made site visits to schools within the state that were operating multiage pilot programs and initially invited three school systems with well-developed programs to join the Tennessee Multiage (Nongraded) Research Network. The project was named the School Success Study indicating that multiage programs are not necessarily preferable to single grade approaches that incorporate effective teaching strategies. However, the study investigates multiage programs in relation to single grade programs.

Economic Factors in Achievement

Studies are currently being conducted to review comparisons between student outcomes and economic variables (i.e., property wealth, sales tax, per capita income) and expenditures such as instruction materials, supplies and local teacher salary supplements. The entire State of Tennessee is being included in this research project.

Peevely, G.L. (1999, June). Education finance reform in Tennessee, 1999: Tax reform, teacher salary equity and charter schools. American Education Research Association—Fiscal Issues, Policy and Education Finance Special Interest Group monograph.

Peevely, G.L. (2000, April). Tennessee statewide tax reform and public education funding. School Finance in the New Millennium: The state of the states and provinces 2000, Plecki, M., ed. (SIG/Fiscal Issues Policy and Education Finance) American Education Research Association.

Peevely, G.L., & Dunbar, D. (2000, July). Tennessee. A chapter in Public School Finance Programs of the United States and Canada, 4th ed., Sielke, C., Dayton, J., & Holmes, T., eds. National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept. of Education, Washington, D.C.

Peevely, G.L., & Ray, J.R. (2001, Spring). Does Equalization litigation affect a narrowing of the gap of value-added achievement outcomes among school districts? Journal of education Finance, 26(4), 463-476.

Homework Research / Children with Disabilities

The Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences research includes a synthesis on homework and on children with disabilities. Studies conducted for the U.S. Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), using data from parents, students and teachers on homework practice and policy are reported in the following publications:

Cooper, H., Jackson, K., Nye, B.A., & Lindsay, J.J. (2001). A model of homework’s influence on the performance evaluations of elementary school students. Journal of Experimental Education, 69(2), 181-199.

Cooper, H., Lindsay, J.J., Nye, B.A., & Greathouse, S. (1998). Relationships between attitudes about homework, the amount of homework assigned and completed, and student achievement. Journal of educational Psychology, 90, 70-83.

Cooper, H., & Nye, B.A. (1994). Homework for students with learning disabilities: The implications of research for policy and practice. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 27, 470-479.

Cooper, H., Nye, B.A., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J.J., & Greathouse, S. (1996). The effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: A narrative and meta-analytic review. Review of Educational Research, 66(3), 227-268.

Cooper, H., Nye, B.A., & Lindsay, J.J. (1998). Relationships between beliefs about homework, the amount of homework assigned and completed, and student achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 1-14.

Cooper, H., Nye, B.A., Lindsay, J.J., & Valentine, J.C. (1999). After school activities and achievement: Relationships between five after-school activities and academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91, 1-10.

Cooper, H., Nye, B.A., & Lindsay, J.J. (2000, October). Homework in the home: How student, family and parenting style differences relate to the homework process. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(4), 464-487.

Muhlenbruck, L., Cooper, H., Nye, B.A., & Lindsay, J.J. (2000). Homework and achievement: Explaining the difference in strengths of relation at the elementary and secondary school levels. Social Psychology of Education.

Class Size Research

Tennessee State University and the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences have been involved in research on the effects of reduced class size since 1984. The Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences has conducted a number of studies, which are highly regarded at the state and national levels. In addition, class size research performed by the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences has been recognized and presented internationally through the London Institute of Education at the University of London, England, and at the two International Conference on School Effectiveness and Improvement meetings (1998 and 1999), as well as at AERA and MSERA, etc. This research (Project STAR, the Lasting Benefits Study, and the Challenge Project Evaluation) was commended by Dr. Frederick Mosteller, Professor Emeritus at Harvard University as “one of the most important experiments in U.S. public education” and for its sound research design. As the Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences’ longitudinal class size studies are continuing, the Center is being more broadly recognized for its research. Education policy regarding class size in 18 states and in several countries has been influenced by the Center’s class size research.

The Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (Project STAR) is a four-year longitudinal class size study funded by the Tennessee General Assembly and conducted by the State of Tennessee’s Department of Education. Teachers were assigned to classes at random and over 7,000 students in 79 schools were randomly assigned to one of three interventions:

Small class (13 to 17 students per teacher)

Regular Class (22 to 25 students per teacher)

Regular with Aid Class (22 to 25 students/teacher with full-time teacher’s aid)

Finding: Small classes significantly improve academic achievement for all groups of students in all locations. The Lasting Benefits Study (LBS) is an example of the RPC’s longitudinal research on class size. LBS findings on the effects of small classes in kindergarten through third grade and on the subsequent academic achievement (test scores) of students in the fourth grade have been published broadly during the last six years.

The Center of Excellence for Learning Sciences class size research was referenced by Dr. Donald Orlich in the Phi Delta Kappan (April 1991) as “one of the most significant studies in education during the past 25 years.” NEA Today (October 1995) highlighted this study in an article, “Small classes, big results”. The American School Boards Journal (May 1992) featured an article on the LBS; recent class size findings were presented in Research in the Schools (1994); a review of STAR and LBS was completed by Harvard University Professor Frederick Mosteller in Futures of Children (1995); and the Arizona General Assembly Report (1996) featured the Center's Tennessee research.

Nye, B.A., Hedges, L.V., Konstantopoulos, S. (2000, Spring). The effects of small classes on academic achievement: the results of the Tennessee class size experiment. American Educational Research Journal, 37(1), 123-151.

Nye, B.A., Hedges, L.V., & Konstantopoulos, S. (2001). The long-term effects of small classes in early grades: Lasting benefits in mathematics achievement at grade 9. Journal Experimental Education, 69(3), 245-257.

Nye, B.A., & Hedges, L.V., Konstantopoulos, S. (2001). Are the effects of small classes cumulative? Evidence from the Tennessee class size experiment. Journal of educational Research, 94(6), 336-345.

Nye, B.A., Hedges, L.V., & Konstantopoulos, S. (1999, Summer). The long-term effects of small classes: A five-year follow-up of the Tennessee class size experiment. Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 21(2), 127-142.

Learning Sciences Class Size Documents

Project STAR Fact Sheet

Project STAR Summary Report

Lasting Benefits Study Sixth Grade Report

Policy and Practice Brief

Continuing Findings of Longitudinal Research on Class Size and Academic Achievement

Effects of Small Classes on Academic Achievement: Results of the Tennessee Experiment

Long-term Effects of Small Classes and Academic Achievement: Five-Year Follow-up

For more information on Class Size Documents, please contact Dr. G. Peevely, (615) 277-1699, or by e-mail gpeevely@coe.tsuniv.edu or go to our Publications Order page now.