PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150)-- Reports Research/Technical (143)

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the relationship between the performance (as measured by test results) of pupils in classrooms with fall-time teacher aides. The Student Teacher Achievement Ratio project (STAR) was implemented in Tennessee from 1985 through 1989 to study the effects of class size on student achievement and development in grades K-3. Data for this paper were derived from an analysis of data from Project STAR and its derivative studies. Project STAR compared the results of three situations: (1) small classes with a 1:15 teacher-pupil ratio (S condition); (2) regular classes with a 1:24 teacher-pupil ratio (R condition); and (3) regular classes with a full-time teacher aide (RA condition). In nearly all comparisons, the small classes had the. highest student test outcomes, followed by regular-sized classes with aides and regular-sized classes. However, pupils who were retained a grade before entering the STAR program benefitted most in their test scores from the RA condition and often least from the S condition. Implications are that retention fails to help students improve test outcomes and that small-class intervention does not remedy already-defined test-score deficits after students have experienced regular classes. Thirteen tables and an appendix containing statistical data are included. (LMI) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document