SURVEY SAYS: Pupils In Small Classes Learn No Faster Than In Large

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32395, 7 September 1970, Page 10

SURVEY SAYS: Pupils In Small Classes Learn No Faster Than In Large

LONDON, Sept. 6.

Children in small classes in Britain appear to learn no faster than those in large “overcrowded” ones, delegates to the British Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Durham have been told.

The conclusion was reached after a survey conducted by the National Bureau for Cooperation in Child Care, they were told.

Follow-up checks were made on 17,000 schoolchildren aged seven. In some cases, children from larger classes actually learned faster than those from smaller ones.

If the survey results could be applied, they could seriously weaken demands in Australia for smaller class sizes. “Over-crowded classrooms” has been one of several causes of dissatisfaction in Australian education departments. However, since the bureau’s survey was restricted to primary-school classes, it is debatable how far it could be apllied to secondary levels. The process of learning is not necessarily the same at differept levels. But the deputy director of the bureau, Mr R. Davie, called on the British Government to examine the benefits of reducing the size of

classes before continuing with further reductions. Britain's Ministry of' Education is already committed to reducing class sizes to a maximum of 35 pupils in ! primary schools. In the survey, the children were graded as coming from small classes (up to 30), medium-sized (31 to 40), and large (40 or more). Their tests in reading, arithmetic, and school and social adjustment were then compared. “In none of the analyses carried out did the children in the smaller or mediumsized classes prove to have higher attainments than the

children in larger classes. On the contrary, the reverse was sometimes the case,” Mr Davie said. It was found that children in large classes were about three months more advanced in reading compared with those in small classes. Said Mr Davies: “The results are certainly puzzling. Children in small classes do not appear necessarily to derive benefit from their fortunate situation.”