The Class Size Myth

In The New Reverse Class Struggle, the Washington Post's Jay Mathews bravely takes on the class size myth, pointing out what many know but few are willing to say -- that class sizes may not matter to student achievement until it is very low, that reducing class size can as in the case of California and the Clinton-era CSR initiative result in lots of poor teachers being hired without any real evidence of improvement, etc. Mathews wonders whether increasing class size for some teachers might be a way to pay some teachers more without hurting kids' education, but he finds few takers.