Sometimes careful scientific research only tells us what we already know intuitively; smaller school class sizes mean better teaching and better learning, especially in the early grades.

COULD IT BE TRUE? In smaller classes children receive more individual attention; students' learning problems are identified and addressed earlier; discipline is more easily maintained; and teachers are more accessible to parents.

LOOK AT THE RESEARCH. Important research in Wisconsin and Tennessee and a look at 200 school districts across the country by the Educational Testing Service (ETS) confirm these expectations.

Students in Wisconsin's Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program with smaller class size "enjoyed significantly greater improvements in test scores in reading, language arts and math" than students who were not in the program.

An eight-year study in Tennessee of children in grades K-3 Found that children in smaller classes performed significantly better in all grade levels and in urban, suburban and rural settings.

The ETS study concluded that smaller classes meant higher achievement in math, and had the largest impact among low-income, urban students.

The most effective class size reduction programs aim to ensure that each licensed teacher in the early grades is responsible for no more than 17 students. In Maryland, a study in 1998 by MSTA found that the average Maryland teacher taught 22 to 29 students. The General Assembly in 1999 passed legislation to bring class size down, and the governor appointed a committee of teachers, parents and administrators, among others, to set standards for the state. Primary responsibility for meeting these standards lies with the counties, and local school districts.

A message from the Maryland State Teachers Association and the Prince George's County Educators' Association