Abstract

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Title:: School Efficiency, Teachers' Rights, and the Struggles for Class Size Reform: A Prehistory of Class Size Reduction in the US in the 20th Century

Keywords:: class size; scientific management; school efficiency; teacher union; collective bargaining

Abstract:: The article examines multiple forces that shaped class sizes in US schools prior to the late-20th-century class size reduction reform by zooming in on two historical events. In the 1920s, city superintendents who embraced the ethos of efficiency, used “scientific evidence” on the insignificant effects of class sizes to raise size limits and solve economic exigency. In the 1960s, distressed teachers started to unionize, strike and fight for collective bargaining rights, who successfully had class size limits written into their contracts. A review of these historical moments reveals the complex struggles over power and interests in the history of U. S. schooling, helping us further understand the various conflicts faced by past and present efforts towards class size reduction reforms.