EFFECTS OF MULTIGRADE AND MULTI-AGE CLASSES RECONSIDERED

In response to ''Cognitive and Noncognitive Effects of Multigrade and Multi-age Classes: A Best-Evidence Synthesis'' (Veenman, 1995), Mason and Burns (1996) report that their research and review of the literatu re has led them to conclude that multigrade classes have a slightly ne gative effect on student achievement. They argue, moreover, that multi grade classes generally have better students and perhaps better teache rs and that this selection bias masks the negative effects of less eff ective instruction in multigrade classes. In this rejoinder, a reanaly sis, based on meta-analytic procedures, of the available multigrade an d multi-age studies shows the average weighted effect sizes to be esse ntially zero or close to zero. For all analyses, the confidence interv als around the average effect sizes included zero. These results provi de little support for the assumption that the quality of instruction i n multigrade classes is lower than in single-grade classes. Between-st udy differences revealed that favorable conditions for classroom instr uction, the country of publication, the locality and socioeconomic sta tus of the school, the grade level of the students, and the number of years spent in multigrade classes need the attention of investigators in future research into effects of multigrade classes.