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'n Heard - Jan,
1991 Issue (page 2).
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State of Tennessee Completes
Study
The State of Tennessee completed earlier this year Project STAR (Student/Teacher
Achievement Ratio), a study on the effects of class size on student
achievement. Students from kindergarten through the 3rd grade were tracked
in 75 schools, randomly assigned to a small class (13-17 students),
a regular class (22-25 students), or a regular class with a full-time
teacher's aide. The achievement scores of the students assigned to the
small classes were way ahead of the rest of the students. One observation
is a class size of 15 students seems to be a threshold, that is, gains
are modest as the class size decreases until the size reaches 15. At
that point, there is a quantum leap in achievement. Teachers involved
felt that in small classes they can make sure all students master the
curriculum, they know the students better and are confident "no one
is falling through the cracks", and have more time to provide immediate
remedial help when students seem to be having problems. Although the
circumstances are different than that of the typical Special Purpose
school, it does suggest 15 might be the threshold size of a workable
and effective group of students. There are many programs that purposely
keep their maximum lower even than 15, for many of the same reasons.
Programs Licensed As Outdoor
Youth Programs
As of October 18, the following programs were licensed as Outdoor Youth
Programs (most are wilderness survival programs) in the State of Utah:
Aspen Achievement Academy-Doug Nelson; Discovery Academy-Dr. D. Eugene
Thorne; Sequoia Wilderness Institute-Abe Dalley, President; Turn-About
Ranch-David Townsend; Wilderness Conquest-Larry Wells; and A Turning
Point-Danny Nored. Up-to-date information can be obtained by calling
Ken Stettler in charge of licensing youth programs, 801-538-4242.
Copyright © 1991, Woodbury
Reports, Inc. (This article may be reproduced without prior approval
if the copyright notice and proper publication and author attribution
accompanies the copy.) |
