e selected to predict the variation in student achievement across different schools: the geographic location of the school, the mean level of teacher experience, the SES level and the percentage of African American students in the individual schools (Nye et al., 2000, p. 137).
The research studies indicated that small class sizes in the early grades resulted in higher academic achievement than larger classes, regardless of the differences of the schools. Specifically, the mathematics and reading achievement test scores of students in small classes were higher than their counterparts in large classes at every single grade level. The impact of the small class sizes could have been bigger if all of the larger classes had had the intended number of students. Their smaller sizes could have reduced the discrepancy in the achievement test scores of students in small and large classes.
Wang, J., & Odell, S. J. (2003). Learning to teach toward standards-based writing instruction: Experiences of two preservice teachers and two mentors in an urban, multicultural classroom. The Elementary School Journal, 104(2), 147-174.
The problem addressed in this research study, conducted by Wang and Odell (2003), dealt with the field-based training of preservice teachers to teach writing in accordance with new conceptions of
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