These guidelines, expressed in the form of questions board members and district officials can ask themselves, borrow from the recommendations of Joan McRobbie, Jeremy Finn, and Patrick Harman and other authorities whose works are cited. McRobbie and colleagues suggest targeting minority and low-income children in primary grades. Because research across the board demonstrates these children stand the most to gain from smaller class size, allocating funds to them may prove to be the most effective use of resources. Small class size is not an end in itself. Consider setting aside money for community meetings, teacher training, and curriculum planning.
Flexibility is also important at the local as well as district level.
Every school will be different in the way it needs to use funds. In schools with a high proportion of low-income families, Title I funds have become a common means of reducing class size. In Burke County, North Carolina, the district decided to use state funds originally allocated for full-time teacher assistants to fund regular teaching positions instead. Other districts have implemented creative scheduling so that class size is reduced for a portion of the day. For example, the Oak Park Plan requires all teachers in the school to teach 15 students in core academic areas for three hours a day.