Class size reduction alone cannot close state achievement gaps.

Evidence

Strictly speaking, the statistical analysis suggests that to bring North Carolina’s educational performance to the level of Connecticut merely by adjusting the student-teacher ratio would require a cut in average class size of twenty to twenty-five pupils per class, but the average class size in North Carolina at the time these data were collected was actually seventeen students. This fact represents statistically the practical impossibility of relying solely on smaller class size to fix educational problems. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 2324

Categorization

• XREF: Challenges the popular class-size-reduction policy fix; connects to social capital vs. resources debates about school reform. — connects to: Educational attainment alone cannot close or reverse the racial wealth gap — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax…, 344; Separate educational facilities in public schooling are inherently unequal — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 505
• SEED: An essay reconciling clear evidence that smaller classes help with the statistical impossibility of closing gaps this way alone.

Broader Connections

• Educational attainment alone cannot close or reverse the racial wealth gap #qualifies (0.80) — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 344
• Separate educational facilities in public schooling are inherently unequal #responds-to (0.70) — Ruggero J. Aldisert, Agatha D. Aldisert, Logic for Lawyers- A Guide to Clear…, 505