The teacher was very defensive when I asked about it. He said they were good kids and it's not a problem. Eleven states have cited Project STAR in legislation to reduce or cap class size in the early grades. Going even further, Tennessee, Nevada, and other states have mandated classes of 17 in grades K-3 by 2002. Project Challenge put the results of Project Star into practice by reducing classes in 17 Tennessee districts to approximately 15 students.
Data shows students improving significantly in both math and reading.
Reducing the number of children in America's classrooms is not an easy proposition. Consider California Governor Pete Wilson's initiative to cut public school classes to 20 or fewer students. Recently in New York City, parents at a Greenwich Village public school were so appalled at the prospect of larger classes due to a teacher layoff that they raised the money to fund the teacher's salary themselves. On the savings side, research shows that small classes promote higher test scores, so fewer children are referred to costly remedial classes. It's hard to find parents who don't support the idea of smaller classes.