In an effort to improve academic performance for students receiving special education services, a large urban school district in Tennessee has implemented Integrated Service Delivery Model. The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of students receiving instruction in self-contained classrooms to the performance of students…

This paper contributes empirically to the literature on peer effects in first-grade classrooms. The paper examines peer effects on academic achievement among first graders randomly assigned to their classrooms and to their teachers as part of Tennessee's Project STAR, America's largest ever education experiment. The analysis draws on previously…

Class size is one of the most researched and heavily debated topics in American public education. Currently, at least 25 states have initiated class size reduction (CSR) programs. In the past twenty years, several major studies have been conducted which indicate that smaller class sizes produce an increase in student achievement as well as greater…

With the increase of interest in the rural public schools in all the States has come a desire for more effective rural school administration, to the ends that there may be a more economic use of school funds and that all children may have opportunities, both better and more nearly equal, to gain the preparation for life required by more rural…

This study was designed to answer the question "Does excessive absenteeism affect student academic achievement?" During the 2002-2003 academic year, 188 students attending grades 3 through 5 at an urban Tennessee elementary school with a high poverty level participated in the study. Demographic data were gathered to provide descriptive…

This report presents student-level achievement results for the four charter schools that began operation in Tennessee during the 2003-04 academic year. To conduct a rigorous and valid analysis of student achievement outcomes at these schools, we employed a matched program-control design at the student level, whereby each charter school student was…