Are class size differences related to pupils’ educational progress and classroom processes? Findings from the Institute of Education Class Size Study of children aged 5-7 Years

The Age or Year Group of children is important

Our results show how vital it is to take account of the age of the child when considering
class size effects. The effects are most obvious in the first year in school - the Re-
ception year. This is consistent with the STAR project (Finn and Achilles, 1999).
There seem to be clear policy implications. There is a clear case for small class
sizes in the reception year. The UK Government’s policy of a maximum class size
at 30 is to be welcomed but our results show where resources should be further tar-
geted. There is also support for the view that small classes and class size reduction
initiatives are best seen as a policy of prevention but not remediation, in the sense
that the evidence supports the use of small classes immediately after entry to
school, but there is no evidence that small classes introduced later in children's
school lives are as effective.

Who benefits?

Small classes appear to work best in literacy for children who are most in need
academically, and who thus have most ground to make up. These findings further
suggest where targeting of resources (in this case small classes) might be best directed.

Benefits for how long?

The effects of class size in the reception year are still evident on literacy progress at the
end of the second year of school (Year 1), though by the end of the third year the
effects are not clear. There were no clear longer-term effects of class size differ-
ences on mathematics achievement. In one sense this indicates that the early bene-
fits of smaller classes on literacy achievement ‘wash out’ after two years in school,
though it needs to be remembered that the children in this study (in contrast with
the STAR project) were not restricted in terms of which size of class they moved
to from year to year.

‘Disruption’ effect

In this study we were able to capture the ‘real world’ of class sizes as they occurred in
schools, and so we were able to analyse more precisely the influence of changes in
class size from year to year. Findings here are important. The biggest changes in class
size took place between reception and Year 1 and we found an important ‘disruption’
effect on children’s educational progress as a consequence. Moving to a class of a
different size, especially a larger class, was disruptive. But we also found that the
effect of small reception classes carried over into Year 1 only when children moved
into a similar or smaller class. The policy implication of this result seems to be that, in
addition to smaller classes in the Reception year, it is advisable to maintain smaller
classes where possible, and to seek to ensure stability in class sizes across years.

There may be longer term effects of class size differences, beyond that evident from
study of the first three years of school, and in current research we are following the
same children over the next stage of their schooling, i.e., 7-11 years (KS2), and
documenting both class sizes and educational achievement. As children develop and
there are curriculum and other changes, there may also be different relationships
between class size and classroom processes. We are therefore repeating case studies
and systematic observations in order to see whether the effects of class size on
teaching and child behaviour are still evident at the end of children’s primary
schooling, as well as at the beginning.

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