Quantitative Article Review
Quantitative Article Review: An Investigation of the Effect of Class Size on Student Academic Achievement by Melvin V. Borland, Roy M. Howsen, and Michelle W. Trawick
The following review is two-fold in its purpose. The first part includes a summary related to the purpose of the study, selection of participants, type of research design, method of data collection, type of statistical analysis used, and the results. The second part includes an analysis with suggestions for further research, discussion of validity, criticisms, and implication of findings.
Borland, Howsen, and Trawick determined that there were four factors hindering the outcomes of previous studies related to class size and student achievement (73). The purpose of their study was to determine the effects of class size on student achievement without the four hindering factors found in previous studies. Furthermore, the researcher states that their study shows the relationship between class size and student achievement is not only non-linear, but also non-monotonic. The participants involved in this study were students from the Kentucky Department of Education, and included 30,000, third grade students enrolled at the end of the 1990 academic year. All students enrolled as third graders in this state were included in this study and variables related to teacher data, and student data were merged, and included in the statistical analysis. This study is an example of correlational research, as the researcher investigated class size, which is an independent variable, and the effect it has on academic achievement, which is the dependent variable. The researcher used the achievement test score results taken at the end of the 1990 academic school year from the selected participant group. Variable data as it relates to teacher, and student demographics, etc. was collected from student/teacher records, which are the property of the Kentucky Department of Education.
Factor analysis was used to
The following review is two-fold in its purpose. The first part includes a summary related to the purpose of the study, selection of participants, type of research design, method of data collection, type of statistical analysis used, and the results. The second part includes an analysis with suggestions for further research, discussion of validity, criticisms, and implication of findings.
Borland, Howsen, and Trawick determined that there were four factors hindering the outcomes of previous studies related to class size and student achievement (73). The purpose of their study was to determine the effects of class size on student achievement without the four hindering factors found in previous studies. Furthermore, the researcher states that their study shows the relationship between class size and student achievement is not only non-linear, but also non-monotonic. The participants involved in this study were students from the Kentucky Department of Education, and included 30,000, third grade students enrolled at the end of the 1990 academic year. All students enrolled as third graders in this state were included in this study and variables related to teacher data, and student data were merged, and included in the statistical analysis. This study is an example of correlational research, as the researcher investigated class size, which is an independent variable, and the effect it has on academic achievement, which is the dependent variable. The researcher used the achievement test score results taken at the end of the 1990 academic school year from the selected participant group. Variable data as it relates to teacher, and student demographics, etc. was collected from student/teacher records, which are the property of the Kentucky Department of Education.
Factor analysis was used to
References: Borland, M. V., Howsen, R. M., & Trawick, M. W. (2005). An investigation of the effect of class size on student academic achievement. Education Economics, 13(1), 73-83. doi: 10.1080/0964529042000325216