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Wisconsin's SAGE class-size reduction program increases the achievement of low-income students in grades K-3, according to a new study.
The study by the Education Policy Research Unit at Arizona State University compares the academic achievement of students in schools that participate in the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program to that of students in non-SAGE comparison schools located in SAGE districts.
It concludes the SAGE program:
The study was conducted by Phil Smith, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee;
Alex Molnar, Arizona State University; and John Zahorik, UW-Milwaukee.
From 1971 to 2001, Molnar was on the faculty of the School of Education
at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he directed the Center
for Education Research, Analysis, and Innovation (CERAI) and the Center
for the Analysis of Commercialism in Education (CACE).
The SAGE program is designed to increase the academic achievement
of
low-income children in grades K-3 by reducing class size, reforming
the
curriculum, providing professional development for teachers, and opening
schools to morning and evening activities.
SAGE was created in 1995, based upon the work of a special task force appointed by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to study the condition of urban education in Wisconsin. It is administered through a program of five-year grants designed to promote academic achievement. SAGE schools get state aid equal to $2,000 for each low-income child in the grades served by the program. Participation has grown from 30 schools in 1996-97 to nearly 600 this year.
Schools participating in the SAGE program are required to:
SAGE has been the subject of an ongoing evaluation, which was conducted for the Department of Public Instruction from 1996 to 2001 by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Education. Those evaluations also have found the program to be successful.
The
complete study
OnWEAC Resource Page on SAGE
Posted October 1, 2003