The purpose of this investigation was to extend our knowledge of the effects of small classes in the primary grades on pupils’ academic achievement. Three questions were addressed that have not been answered in previous research: (1) How large are the effects of small classes relative to the number of years students participate in those classes? (2) How much does any participation in small classes in K–3 affect performance in later grades when all classes are full-size? (3) How much does the duration of participation in small classes in K–3 affect the magnitude of the benefits in later grades (4, 6, and 8)? Rationales for expecting the continuing impacts of small classes were derived in the context of other educational interventions (for example, Head Start, Perry Preschool Project). The questions were answered using data from Tennessee's Project STAR, a statewide controlled experiment in which pupils were assigned at random to small classes, full-size classes, or classes with a full-time teaching assistant. Hierarchical linear models (HLMs) were employed because of the multilevel nature of the data; the magnitude of the small-class effect was expressed on several scales including “months of schooling.” The results for question (1) indicate that both the year in which a student first enters a small class and the number of years (s)he participates in a small class are important mediators of the benefits gained. The results for questions (2) and (3) indicate that starting early and continuing in small classes for at least three years are necessary to assure long-term carryover effects. Few immediate effects of participation in a class with a full-time teacher aide, and no long-term benefits, were found. The results are discussed in terms of implications for class-size reduction initiatives and further research questions.

This investigation addressed 3 questions about the long-term effects of early school experiences: (a) Is participation in small classes in the early grades (K-3) related to high school graduation? (b) Is academic achievement in K-3 related to high school graduation? (c) If class size is related to graduation, is the relationship explained by the effect of participation in small classes on students' academic achievement? The study included 4,948 participants in Tennessee's class-size experiment, Project STAR. Analyses showed that graduating was related to K-3 achievement and that attending small classes for 3 or more years increased the likelihood of graduating from high school, especially among students eligible for free lunch. Policy and research implications are discussed.

Despite more than 600,000 teacher aides in American schools today, research provides little information about their classroom activities, their qualifications for carrying out their duties, or their impact on student achievement and behavior. This investigation asked whether the presence of a teacher aide in the classroom has any noticeable impact on pupils' learning. Three primary questions were addressed: (1) In Grades K through 3, does the presence of a full-time teacher aide in the classroom affect students' academic achievement? (2) If teacher aides have a positive effect on students' performance, does the effect depend on the number of years the student attends classes with a teacher aide? (3) Do some functions of aides (i.e., clerical tasks, instructional tasks, noninstructional tasks) have a greater impact on student achievement than others? This investigation showed that the teacher aide movement in the United States has created a state of affairs that requires many aides to perform tasks for which they are ill-prepared. In addition, teacher aide data were analyzed from Tennessee's Project STAR, a longitudinal experiment in which students were assigned at random to small classes, regular-size classes without an aide, or regular-size classes with a full-time teacher aide. The analyses reported here extend previous investigations, examining the functions and effects of teacher aides in depth. The results showed that teacher aides have little, if any, positive effect on students' academic achievement. The only positive effect was an improvement in reading scores for students who attended a class with a teacher aide for 2 or 3 years. These results were the only exceptions to a plethora of negative findings. The study also showed that the types of duties aides performed had no bearing on student achievement. Because teacher aides are called upon increasingly to provide instruction to pupils, policies and research must help us select and prepare aides to perform effectively.

The purpose of this investigation was to extend our knowledge of the effects of small classes in the primary grades on pupils’ academic achievement. Three questions were addressed that have not been answered in previous research: (1) How large are the effects of small classes relative to the number of years students participate in those classes? (2) How much does any participation in small classes in K–3 affect performance in later grades when all classes are full-size? (3) How much does the duration of participation in small classes in K–3 affect the magnitude of the benefits in later grades (4, 6, and 8)? Rationales for expecting the continuing impacts of small classes were derived in the context of other educational interventions (for example, Head Start, Perry Preschool Project). The questions were answered using data from Tennessee's Project STAR, a statewide controlled experiment in which pupils were assigned at random to small classes, full-size classes, or classes with a full-time teaching assistant. Hierarchical linear models (HLMs) were employed because of the multilevel nature of the data; the magnitude of the small-class effect was expressed on several scales including “months of schooling.” The results for question (1) indicate that both the year in which a student first enters a small class and the number of years (s)he participates in a small class are important mediators of the benefits gained. The results for questions (2) and (3) indicate that starting early and continuing in small classes for at least three years are necessary to assure long-term carryover effects. Few immediate effects of participation in a class with a full-time teacher aide, and no long-term benefits, were found. The results are discussed in terms of implications for class-size reduction initiatives and further research questions.

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This book is a self-teaching guide to the SPSS for Windows computer application. It is designed to be used with SPSS version 13.0, although many of the procedures are also applicable to earlier versions of SPSS. The step-by-step format of this manual "walks" the reader through numerous examples, illustrating how to use the application. The results produced in SPSS are shown and discussed in most examples. Each chapter demonstrates statistical procedures and provides exercises to reinforce the text examples. This book may be used in two ways-as a stand-alone manual for a student learning to use SPSS for Windows or in a course together with a basic statistics text. As a stand-alone manual, it is assumed that the reader is familiar with the basic ideas of quantitative data and statistical analysis. Thus, statistical terminology is used without providing extensive definitions. Most of the applications in this book are self-explanatory, although the reader will need to refer to a text for extensive discussion of statistical theory and procedures. This book can also be an invaluable part of an undergraduate or graduate statistics course with a computer component and can be used easily with any elementary statistics book (e.g., The New Statistical Analysis of Data by Anderson and Finn, Elements of Statistical Inference by Huntsberger and Billingsley, Understanding Statistics by Mendenhall and Ott, or Introduction to the Practice of Statistics by Moore and McCabe). This manual provides handson experience with data sets, illustrates the results of each type of analysis described, and offers exercises for students to complete as homework assignments. The data sets used as examples are of general interest and come from many fields, for example, education, psychology, sociology, health, and sports. An instructor may choose to use the exercises as additional class assignments or in computer laboratory sessions. Complete answers to the VI P REFACE exercises are available to instructors from the publisher. Chapter 1 of this guide describes how to start the SPSS application and how to create, upload, and manipulate data files. Chapters 2 through 6 address descriptive statistics, and chapters 10 through 15 address inferential statistics. Chapters 7 through 9 discuss probability and are included primarily to illustrate the bridge between descriptive and inferential statistics. If this manual is used strictly to teach (or learn) SPSS, these chapters may not be relevant. This manual uses SPSS for Windows, Version 13.0. System requirements include: Microsoft Windows 98, Me, NT® 4.0, 2000 or XP operating system, Pentium®-class processor, 200MB hard drive space (for the SPSS Base only), at least 128MB RAM, and an SVGA monitor. Information on installing SPSS is provided with the software. The application includes a comprehensive Help facility; the user need only click on Help on the main menu bar within the open application.

except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc., in this publication, even if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely by anyone.Production managed by Hal Hengleinj manufacturing supervised by Joe Quatela. Camera-ready copy supplied by the authors.

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