The DOI matches its Crossref record; 3 of the 3 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Small Classes in the Early Grades, Academic Achievement, and Graduating From High School.
Abstract
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.
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“Previous research has doc - umented the positive effects of a smaller ratio of children to educators, and others have argued this may be particularly important for infants and toddlers (Finn et al., 2005; Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000 ).”
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“As a primary measure of online student learning, notwithstanding, course grades remain underexplored in studies of class size in HE, suggesting the need for further inspection to inform both the theoretical and practical relationships among key variables of interest (Bettinger et al. 2017; Taft, Kesten, and El-Banna 2…”
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Murphy, J. S. G. (2010) · doi:10.25772/tpwp-qm97 · Cited by 3
“Finn, Gerber, and Boyd-Zaharias (2005) found the results from these tests showed that the average student who had Class Size and Title I Student Achievement 25 attended the small classes were months ahead of those students from the two standard classes.”
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“…years of the child can be optimally utilized for the achievement in future years (Weiss & Offenberg, 2002; Taiwo & Tyolo, 2002; Slimmer, 2003; Finn et al., 2005; Barnett, 2008; Bibi & Ali, 2012) and those early years of a child’s life denote an important phase of biological, social,…”
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“Project STAR seems to have had long-run effects reaching well into adolescence and young adulthood as shown by a higher likelihood of graduating from high school and college enrollment and higher labor market earnings (e.g. Krueger and Whitmore, 2001; Finn et al., 2005; Chetty et al., 2011).”
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“…of mind, body, and spirit in the learning process, advocating for small learning communities with educators holding engineering degrees and design work experience, known to positively impact on teacher-student engagement, student learning and motivation, and future academic outcomes [93] - [95].”
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“Individual factors include low academic achievement, behavioral issues (e.g., substance use, delinquency), and deteriorating mental and physical health (Dupéré et al., 2018; Finn et al., 2005; Svansdottir et al., 2015).”
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Selman, K. J. (2025) · Contemporary Justice Review · doi:10.1080/10282580.2025.2546810
“With fewer students, Collectively, these narratives link the cognitive benefits (MAP scores, grade performance) to the non-cognitive benefits (sense of safety, relationship building, confidence) that small class sizes can facilitate (see Finn & Shanahan, 2016; Finn et al., 2005).”
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Kaashifah, & Easton-Brooks, D. (2025) · The Urban Review · doi:10.1007/s11256-025-00754-8
“Related to this study, the Dean’s Future Scholars (DFS) college-based academic outreach intervention program provides summer courses with year-round mentorship to all its students in urban schools of the Washoe County School District (WCSD) beyond the regular school curriculum (Finn et al., 2005).”
Gallotta, P. (2017) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/6f8f3bb5z5103z421dz8258z1d266f93a80f
“De plus, ces élèves sont plus enclins à effectuer des études universitaires et ceci s’avère particulièrement vrai pour les élèves issus de classes sociales défavorisées pour qui les bénéfices d’une fréquentation sur quatre ans de ces classes réduit les inégalités en lecture et en mathématiques (Finn et al. 2005).”
Bellarbre, É. (2017) · doi:10.70675/c53490e2z4c4ez4e1ezb284zace6ea4db6a7
“De plus, cet impact serait plus important pour les élèves des familles à faibles revenus (Finn et al., 2005). Les élèves ayant bénéficiés d’un enseignement en petite classe auraient plus de probabilité d’obtenir un diplôme du lycée (Finn et al., 2005). Cela permettrait aussi de réduire les écarts de réussite entre "bl…”
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Wang, W. (2016) · doi:10.7916/d8571c4q
“showed that even though the effects on test scores didn’t persist, attending a small class at an early age increased high school completion rates [21], the likelihood of taking college entrance exams [39] and even adult earnings [12].”
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Teixeira, A., Jorge, R., Guardiano, M., Viana, V., & Guimarães, J. (2011) · doi:10.25754/pjp.2011.4165
Metadata
- Authors
- Finn, J. D., Gerber, S. B., & Boyd-Zaharias, J.
- Affiliations
- University at Buffalo, State University of New York (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Educational Psychology
- Published
- 2005-05
- Volume
- 97
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 214-223
- ISSN
- 0022-0663 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2176
- OpenAlex
- W2142644047
- Cited by
- 223
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 25 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 45.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Educational Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Environments and Student Outcomes
- Keywords
- small class size, early grades, academic performance, high school graduation, Project STAR, free lunch eligibility, primary education
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