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Small classes in the elementary grades have been shown to boost students' academic performance. However, researchers continue to seek a consistent, integrated explanation of "why" small classes have positive effects. This article forwards the hypothesis that when class sizes are reduced, major changes occur in students' engagement in the classroom. Engagement is composed of "learning behavior" and pro- and antisocial behavior. Both are highly related to academic performance. We first review research on the relationship between class size and student engagement. Second, we review sociological and psychological theory about the behavior of individuals in groups to explain how student behavior can be affected by changes in class size. Both theory and empirical findings support our hypothesis, although additional research is required. High-priority questions needing further research are identified in the conclusion.
KEYWORDS: class behavior, class size, engagement, small classes, student behavior, teacher-student interactions.
Researchers have studied class size in American schools for more than a century. Well over 100 studies were reviewed by Glass and Smith (1978) and Robinson (1990). These authors concluded that the preponderance of the evidence showed that reduced-size classes-below 20 pupils-were associated with improved academic performance. Effects were most pronounced in the early primary grades and especially among students from low-income homes. All three findings were substantiated in Tennessee's Project STAR (Finn, Gerber, Achilles, & BoydZaharias, 2001; Word et al., 1990). STAR differed from previous research because it was a large-scale randomized experiment having both short- and longterm follow-ups. Its findings were confirmed by several research teams using different statistical approaches, and the results have been replicated in other evaluations, including Tennessee's Project Challenge (Achilles, Nye, & Zaharias, 1995) and Wisconsin's Project SAGE (Molnar, Smith, & Zahorik, 2000). The success of these initiatives motivated many states and districts to undertake classsize reduction programs.
Although the findings are strong and consistent, they have met with some skepticism. In particular, economist Eric Hanushek has disputed whether small classes are efficacious. Based on his own review of several hundred studies, he stated: "Extensive econometric investigation show [sic] NO relationship between class size and student performance" (1998, p. iii). Debate about this proposition has been heated, and several researchers even reanalyzed Hanushek's own data, reaching the opposite conclusion (e.g., Hedges, Laine, & Greenwald, 1994;...