Class Size Reduction Policy Research Articles

Enhancing a Quality Teaching and Learning Environment in Large Classes in South African Universities: a Theoretical Exposition

The perpetual increase in students’ enrolment in higher education institutions, worldwide, has recently emerged as a key concern for both students, educators, parents, policy makers and educational policy analysts alike. This phenomenon has been borne out of a global trend of massification of higher education as many countries begin to consider the importance of education and skills development in economic growth and social development. On the other hand, it has been triggered by the perceived pattern of commodification of higher education services in which student intake and teaching outputs are intricately linked to the financial sustainability of higher education institutions. In this paper, a critical examination of literature pertaining to Large Class Pedagogy and Learning Theories is undertaken with a view to determine how one could teach and ensure quality learning in large classes within a South African higher education context. Anchored within a critical qualitative frame of analysis, the assessment draws from existing literature on Large Class Pedagogy (LCP), learning theories, teaching approaches and learning styles to provide a conceptual lens in which the challenges associated with large class environments can be mitigated to offer an educational experience of acceptable quality. The paper provides a synthesis of pertinent issues that have arose in the critical examination of LCP and appropriate Learning Theories in a developing country context as that of South Africa. It appears that government funding to higher education institutions should be increased through adoption of large class size reduction policies, equitable allocation of resources to faculties and academic departments by universities, rigorous assessment of staff-student ratios and infrastructure when new academic programs are introduced, monitoring of adherence to approved yearly student enrolment targets in academic programme, adoption of collaborative learning methods by academic staff in which self-directed learning styles in students are encouraged and supported, optimal use of educational technologies through systematic integration of digitization in the learning and teaching environment, enhanced administrative psycho-social support to students and lecturers are some of the macro, mesa and micro level strategies required to enhance quality teaching and learning with increasing class sizes.

An Appraisal of School-Related Factors that Contribute to the Academic Achievements of Low Social-Economic-Status of Students in Ghana

The objective of the study was to examine the school-related factors that contribute to the academic achievements of low- social economic – status of students in the Aboom Circuit of the Cape Coast Metropolis during 2015-2016 academic years. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. Purposive and random sampling techniques were used to select teachers, schools and students. The five junior high schools (St Nicholas, St. Monica, Aboom Methodist B, Aboom Zion A and Aboom Zion C) were randomly selected from the ten schools in the circuit. A proportional allocation was used to determine and allocate the total number of students from the population to each school. The main instrument for data collection was questionnaire. The data were entered in a pre-designed template in the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software, version 21. The data were analysed using descriptive (frequency and percentages, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (correlation). The research hypothesis was also analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study indicated that school-related factors such as school time schedule, resources, school climate, guidance and counselling, school-parents’ relationship may significantly contribute to students’ academic achievement. It is also concluded that when the right atmosphere or conditions are created, students can perform well irrespective of their socio-economic statuses or backgrounds. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education (MOE)/Ghana Education Service (GES) in partnership with school administrators should provide adequate teaching and learning resources and facilities for effective teaching and learning at the school. It is also recommended that in other to ensure effective teaching and learning, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) should collaborate to implement a class size reduction policy effectively as expected. This means that the student-to-teacher ratio should strictly be adhered to.

Association between student-teacher ratio and teachers\u2019 working hours and workload stress: evidence from a nationwide survey in Japan

BackgroundToo long work hours of Japanese school teachers, along with an increasing number of teachers taking leave due to mental illness, are well known and recognized as a serious social problem. In order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by reducing the density in the classroom, the Japanese government has decided to reduce the upper-limit of class size in primary schools after 2021, which is expected to result in lowering the student-teacher ratio. The aim of this study was to examine the association between student-teacher ratio, teacher work hours and teacher stress.MethodsData on student-teacher ratio, teacher work hours, and teacher stress were obtained from a large-scale international survey conducted by OECD. The number of teachers participated in the survey was 3308 (primary school) and 3555 (lower-secondary school). After excluding teachers with missing observations, the analytic sample consisted of 2761 (primary school) and 3006 (lower-secondary school) teachers. Multivariate regression analysis was performed.ResultsRegression results revealed that student-teacher ratio was positively correlated with total work hours and workload stress of teachers. In particular, teachers working in schools with high student-teacher ratio spent more time on time-consuming tasks such as marking/correcting student work and communication with parents or guardians. The coefficient estimates suggested that, on average, lowering the student-teacher ratio by five in lower-secondary school was associated with 2.8 hours shorter working hours per week (p<0.001).ConclusionOur empirical results suggested that the class-size reduction policy starting in 2021 could reduce teacher stress and long work hours through the consequent decrease in student-teacher ratios.

An instrumental variables approach to assess the effect of class size reduction on student screen time

An emerging area of research considers links between characteristics of the school setting and health. The existing small evidence base assessing the association between class size and health is inconclusive. This quasi-experimental study uses an instrumental variables approach based on North Carolina's elementary class size reduction policy to assess the relationship between class size and student screen time. Specifically, data are from public school students in North Carolina, USA, who were in 3rd grade any time between fall 2005 and spring 2011. There was no association between class size and screen time (measured as recreational television and/or electronic device use), after accounting for grade size and school size, year fixed effects, and clustering at the school and district level. These findings suggest that, in statewide policy implementation settings, there may not be any immediate spillover benefits of class size reduction policies on student screen time.

Effects of class size reduction in upper grades: Evidence from Seoul, Korea

We study the effects of class size reduction (CSR) in upper grades (10–12) on college entrance exam scores, using merged Korean administrative data. This data set provides a rare opportunity to investigate the effects of high school class sizes on student outcomes. Seoul has maintained strong restrictions on educational choices to achieve the ideal of equal educational opportunities. The identification mainly comes from the large-scale CSR policy implemented in 2002. By using the within-school between-cohort variation in class size intended by the CSR policy, we find that the effects of high school class sizes on test scores are small with tight confidence intervals. We confirm this result by using the additional within-school variation in class size arising from the major division, especially the implicit rule of class allocation between majors. Further, the distributional effects are no different from the average effects either.

Class size and teacher effects in higher education

Using student evaluations of their instructor as an outcome measure, we estimate and compare class size and teacher effects for higher education, with an emphasis on determining whether a comprehensive class size reduction policy that draws on the hiring of new teachers is likely to improve educational outcomes. We find that first time teachers perform significantly worse than their peers, and we find substantial class size effects. Hence higher education institutions face a tradeoff if they wish to increase admission. This tradeoff implies that as class size increases, at first the negative class size effect is smaller than that of introducing a first time teacher. However, beyond a certain level, the class size effect dominates and it is better to create a new class with a first time teacher.11We would like to thank Matías Covarrubias and Fernanda Rojas for excellent research assistance. We would also like to thank comments received in the internal workshop of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile’s Economics Department and in the 2011 Yearly Congress of the Economics Society of Chile. We also thank two anonymous referees whose advice greatly improved the paper. The usual disclaimer applies.

Class-size reduction policies and the quality of entering teachers

Class-size reduction (CSR) policies have typically failed to produce large achievement gains. One common explanation is that CSR forces schools to hire low-quality teachers. Prior studies of this hypothesis have been hindered by poor data. Using different data, we find that hiring quality did fall with state-wide CSR. However, this drop was temporary due to attrition by the lowest performers. Furthermore, the drop was similar for schools classified as treated and control for prior evaluations of CSR. Therefore, differences in the quality of incoming teachers cannot explain the estimated performance of CSR. This is consistent with hiring spillovers in connected markets.

PROTOCOL: Small Class Sizes for Improving Student Achievement in Primary and Secondary Schools: A Systematic Review

PROTOCOL: Small Class Sizes for Improving Student Achievement in Primary and Secondary Schools: A Systematic Review

A review of research on Project STAR and path ahead

Understanding the effects of class size reduction (CSR) has been an enduring issue in education. For the past 3 decades, Project STAR has stimulated research and policy discussions regarding the effects of CSR on a variety of outcomes. Schanzenbach (2007) reviewed STAR studies and concluded that small classes improved student academic outcomes. Since her review, however, some research has challenged this conclusion. This paper reviews these recent challenges, comparing past and recent studies. This review is considered together with studies on large-scale CSR policies in the US and CSR studies outside the US. We conclude by suggesting a direction for future research.

Principals as Middle Managers: School Leadership During the Implementation of Primary Class Size Reduction Policy in Ontario

Previous work on policy implementation has often suggested that schools leave their “thumbprints” on policies received from above. During the implementation of Primary Class Size Reduction (PCS) Initiative in Ontario, Canada, however, school principals spoke with remarkable uniformity about the ways PCS affected their work. This article reports the interview responses of 24 principals from eight school districts across Ontario that participated in a larger multiyear evaluation of PCS. The article analyzes principals' perspectives on the constraints of middle management under this policy and also raises questions about how policy shapes principals' leadership discretion and influence on crucial school functions of teaching and learning.

The impact of a universal class-size reduction policy: Evidence from Florida's statewide mandate

Class-size reduction (CSR) mandates presuppose that resources provided to reduce class size will have a larger impact on student outcomes than resources that districts can spend as they see fit. I estimate the impact of Florida's statewide CSR policy by comparing the deviations from prior achievement trends in districts that were required to reduce class size to deviations from prior trends in districts that received equivalent resources but were not required to reduce class size. I use the same comparative interrupted time series design to compare schools that were differentially affected by the policy (in terms of whether they had to reduce class size) but that did not receive equal additional resources. The results from both the district- and school-level analyses indicate that mandated CSR in Florida had little, if any, effect on student achievement.

Reclaiming Assessment through Accountability that is “Just Right”

BackgroundThis article builds on three years of qualitative research on Wisconsin's Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) program, a class size reduction policy in Wisconsin.ObjectiveIn this article, we take a practice-oriented perspective on assessment, examining how assessments in schools that participated in a class size reduction program intersected with forces of accountability. The goal of this article is to broaden the understanding of what it means for schools and teachers to be held accountable for student learning and to discuss how different accountability frameworks affect instructional practices in classrooms.SettingThe research took place in nine elementary schools across South and Central Wisconsin.Research designData for the qualitative case studies were generated through multiple methods, including ethnographic observations, interviews, administration of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), document and artifact collection, and analyses of school-level standardized test scores.ResultsThe current political and educational context oriented our focus to an intersection of issues: the implementation of class size reduction, instructional practice, assessment, and accountability. We identify three aspects of assessment practices that affect this intersection: alignment, audience, and action.ConclusionsWe found that coherent and collaborative assessment practices were more likely to take place in schools where there were explicit connections through assessments to varied communities of interest: district, school, teachers, students, and families. In supportive assessment systems, teachers had tools that they understood and that they could use to improve their practice to meet the needs of their students. In contrast, assessment in lower quality classrooms took place in disjointed systems that focused primarily on summative rather than formative assessment. A focus on accountability without attention to the quality of instruction and the quality of assessment resources is inherently flawed.

The Effect of Class Size on Teacher Attrition: Evidence from Class Size Reduction Policies in New York State

Starting in 1999, New York State implemented class size reduction policies targeted at early elementary grades, but due to funding limitations, most schools reduced class size in some grades and not others. I use class size variation within a school induced by the policies to construct instrumental variable estimates of the effect of class size on teacher attrition. Teachers with smaller classes were not significantly less likely to leave schools in the full sample of districts but were less likely to leave a school in districts that targeted the same grade across schools. District-wide class size reduction policies were more likely to persist in the same grade in the next year, suggesting that teacher expectations of continued smaller classes played a role in their decision whether or not to leave a school. A decrease in class size from 23 to 20 students (a decrease of one standard deviation) under a district-wide policy decreases the probability that a teacher leaves a school by 4.2 percentage points.

Class Size Reduction in Practice

Class size reduction (CSR) has emerged as a very popular, if not highly controversial, policy approach for reducing the achievement gap. This article reports on findings from an implementation study of class size reduction policy in Wisconsin entitled the Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE). Drawing on case studies of nine schools, we identify school principals as critical and overlooked influences in the implementation of class size reduction policies. Principals’ influence proved central in three challenge areas: the use of space, serving the needs of diverse learners and building teacher capacity. By comparing the patterns of practice across schools, we have identified school leadership practices and dispositions for CSR that appear related to improving achievement levels.

An Overview of the Studies of Class Size Reduction Policy in the U.S.

An Overview of the Studies of Class Size Reduction Policy in the U.S.

The Political Economy of Education Policy: The Case of Class Size Reduction

Researchers and policy makers today are too preoccupied with school effectiveness--with finding out what works and how to replicate it. Not enough attention is given to the fact that the schools serve a variety of personal and societal purposes and that these purposes are deeply contested. This article develops a political economy framework for mapping and interpreting the competing purposes of schooling, and then applies this framework to explain 5 basic paradoxes in the national policy debates addressing class size in public elementary schools. The framework presented argues that there are 4 distinct answers to the question, "What kind of an economic good is education?" Education can be seen as a service industry, as a producer of durable goods, as a system of investment in human capital formation, or as the conduit for passing cultural legacies between generations. While business leaders and government officials are trying to secure durable educational achievement, students and their families are often concerned more with the quality of service received at their local school, with rate of return on their financial and effort investments, or with the cultural value of the legacy that participation in the schools is generating for the next generation. Because the major stakeholders in public education hold different views regarding which of these economic goods is of highest priority and which should be vouchsafed by governmental policy, policymakers are tempted to adopt inconsistent and even incoherent policies trying to placate all important constituency groups. Specific contradictions in class size reduction policies can be directly interpreted from the perspective offered herein.

Federal Class Size Reduction Policy: A Case Study Testing John W. Kingdon's Theory on Agenda Setting

According to policy theorist John W. Kingdon's theory on agenda setting, three streams of problems, politics, and policy alternatives converge to create a window of opportunity that allows an issue to move onto the policy-setting agenda. In 1999 the policy-setting agenda included former President Bill Clinton's class size reduction policy despite many decades of conflict over the policy and inaction at the federal level. It appears that a change in the political stream created a window of opportunity that allowed class size reduction to arrive on the agenda. By examining enrollment data, average class size and teacher-pupil ratio trends, national perceptions, developments in policy approaches, and political factors, this study concludes that class size reduction is an example of Kingdon's theory.

Tackling California’s Class Size Reduction policy initiative: an up close and personal account of how teachers and learners responded

This chapter examines some effects of California’s Class Size Reduction (CSR) policy on teachers and pupils in four elementary schools over a two year period using interviews and participant observation. Among the main findings from the interviews, confirmed by the observations, was that while teachers found classes with 20 pupils easier to teach, they did not initially consider the possibility of changing practice in order to maximize the advantages of the smaller classes. In the second year there were slight increases in the amounts of individual attention pupils received, particularly feedback, and teachers expressed greater confidence when making assessments. Pupils’ reactions were generally positive although some expressed the view that in larger classes they got more help from friends. There were several unanticipated effects; for example, some older grade teachers with larger classes expressed resentment because of their higher administrative and marking loads.