Reasonable-Size Classes for the Important Work of Education in Early Elementary Years: A Manual for Class-Size Reductions So All Children Have Small Classes and Quality Teachers in Elementary Grades. Revised.

This manual draws together evolving information about how group size influences what the group does and how learning tasks may be designed and employed to accomplish desired outcomes. The manual includes ideas from research on class size and its outcomes; theories of learning and development; and validated experiences of expert educators. It provides information and tips for class-size advocates to use in working at the early elementary level. Following an introduction and executive summary, the second section of the manual offers tips, hints, and strategies for getting involved politically to support candidates who advocate for small classes. The next section summarizes what research says about best ways to implement appropriate-size classes in grades K-3, stressing that small classes are not an extension of project-driven pupil-teacher-ratio efforts. The next section provides a sample evaluation outline for assessing class-size change. Included is a list of references used in the manual and selected sources of class-size information in a bibliography. Appended are a comparison of class size and pupil-teacher ratio, a class-size fact sheet, and a listing of research-supported theories to support small classes. The manual will be revised periodically as new information becomes available. (WFA)