Class size reduction vs. Race to the Top: Research, support, and benefits

Last week at the Save Our Schools  conference,  Robin Hiller of Voices for Education  and I presented a workshop on class size reduction vs. Race to the Top.

The room at American University was standing room only.  I learned that Robin became involved in class size issue when her daughter was in a class of 29 in Kindergarten in a Tucson public school;  I became involved the very same year, when my daughter was in a class of 29 in 1st grade in a NYC public school.

As our chart and power point reveal, while the research, public support and the positive effects of smaller classes on teaching and learning are clear, the opposite can be said of the federal government’s ” Race to the Top” program  and the administration’s proposals to renew and revise NCLB.