I know there is an ongoing debate on the strength of Class 1A versus Class A.  I hope to provide some data.
<p>
Class A is the most unbalanced class in A (high standard deviation).  There exists very good teams in Class A and very bad teams.
<p>
Note: 4A, 3A relative strength calculation is unbiased but perhaps inaccurate.  It is based on the 2006 performances of Waukee and Heelan.
<p>
<pre>
Cl  N   Average     Stdev  
4A  48  107.3227    12.1370
3A  64  113.0622    10.2537
2A  64  102.4342    10.1740
1A  64  101.3196    10.8346
 A  68   97.2280    13.2115
 8  55   84.8374    11.5871
</pre>
<p>
Average Class 1A team is believed to be 4 points better than the average Class A team.
<p>
However the top teams in Class 1A are only 2 points better than the top teams in Class A.<br>
The bottom teams in Class 1A are equal to the bottom teams in Class A.
<p>
<pre>
     Class     Strength
Pct  1A  A   1A      A
 75% 16 17  100.91 99.14
 50% 32 34   92.58 89.09
 25% 48 51   80.00 69.26
  0% 64 68   37.28 36.96
</pre>