Does class size make a difference in student's learning? I

According to different authors, there is a long lasting debate in education about the ideal number of students per class or per teacher. There are some arguments which point out that a close relationship between teachers and students in smaller classes is good in education due to the increasing support for students’ learning. On the other hand, we have some research based on academic results which show that class size is not a central variable in education.

It seems obvious to many teachers and parents that class size is an important factor influencing the effectiveness of what teachers and pupils are able to do to promote high-quality learning. Nevertheless, according to Blatchford and Mortimore, “the intriguing thing is that when we review the research literature on the educational effects of class size differences, we could find little support for this view” (Blatchford and Mortimore,1994). In fact, although the strength of the popular view is in favor of smaller classes, research had little to say about whether class size differences affected children’s educational achievements, and still less to say about whether they affected classroom processes, including teaching and pupil’s behavior (Blatchford, 2003: 3 - 4).

In addition to this “neither the large-scale class size experiments nor the statistical syntheses of all relevant class size studies provide clear support for the claim that class size is an important determinant of pupil achievement” (Pedder 2006: 214).

In my view, and as Blatchford suggests, more studies are needed on the topic to establish whether class reduction is worth trying and those studies ought to attend to as many variables as possible, such as student’s achievement, peer interaction, the curriculum, forms of assessment, teacher’s interaction and even national educational aims. Surely class size reductions are beneficial in specific circumstances, for specific groups of students, subject matters, and teachers. Second, class size reductions necessarily involve hiring more teachers, and teacher quality is much more important than class size in affecting student outcomes in my view. Third, class size reduction is very expensive, and little or no consideration is given to alternative and more productive uses of those resources

Besides, there have been consistent and dramatic falls in pupil-teacher ratios over most of the 20th century. Later on, Hanushek adds: “The obvious conclusion from this is that, if there is a problem of class size today, there must have been larger problems in the past” (Hanushek,1998: 3). There is no doubt that Hanushek’s conclusion makes sense. However, in my opinion, nowadays behavior, attitudes, and manners among students are different from the 30 years ago. The traditional teacher’s authority is often questioned by students and classroom control is harder. From my experience, I can say that whole class teaching is harder when the class contains children of diverse aptitudes and skills. It is not the numbers of pupils to teachers that is crucial, but the future of smallness and the opportunity for the development of a sense of community which cannot be realized in a larger class.
From my own experience I can say that in large classes I was spread too thinly across students, that better quality of support was available to students in small rather than in large classes, that monitoring, checking and providing appropriate feedback is more difficult in larger than smaller classes, that more time can be devoted to supporting individual learning in smaller classes and that teachers can develop more and deeper knowledge of their students in smaller classes. Considering all this, we can affirm that small classes are more prone to improve students’ learning. But do never forget that when it comes to teach and learn many factors come into play.