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Class Sizes During Early Childhood Affect College Outcomes, Study Finds

October 24, 2011, 5:24 pm

Students enrolled in smaller classes during early childhood have an increased probability of attending college, earning a college degree, and entering high-earning fields, according to a study published on Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The likelihood of students’ attending college increased by 2.7 percentage points, and the effect was more than twice as large among black students. The odds of earning a degree increased by 1.6 percentage points over all.

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  • lfserpa

    I assume there is also a correlation between family income and the likelihood of attending college and a correlation between family income and the likelihood of attending a school with smaller classes as a child so this result does not necessarily the value of small classes.  I is just as likely to be family income and/or education levels of the parents that increase the college attendance.  

  • burkpsu

    Ifserpa raises a good point for consideration.  However, the data reported here address this question showing stronger impacts of smaller early childhood classes on students of color and lower income students.  If college attainment was solely the result of family income, this pattern would not be present in the data. More likely, as the authors point out, the smaller size produces more concentrated and lasting program impacts on students. While I would agree with Ifserpa that family income can result in being able to afford smaller early childhood classes and income influences college success, these data also support the impact of smaller size on low income students. The study demonstrates the value of longitudinal analysis and the interconnected nature of student program outcomes across time. Such contributions to “cradle-to-career” data analysis help us understand the importance of examining the interconnectedness of impacts vis-a-vis the isolation of impacts.  

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