Effects Of Class Size On Student Achievement

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Problem Statement
Elementary school is a place where children begin to build an academic foundation that will essentially support their academic careers for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, large class size is an obstacle that hinders optimum learning that many children face. Experts believe, children especially in grades kindergarten through third grade are specifically vulnerable to the complications that occur due to large class sizes, for example substandard instruction, disciplinary disturbances and lower test scores. My research will take place at Roberta T. Smith Elementary School in my 3rd grade class of 27 students. My class consists of twelve below level students (six of those students have learning disabilities), elven students on grade level, and four students who are above grade level and gifted. Budget cuts are a major increase of classroom sizes. With budget cuts, there are fewer teacher positions available while the number of students remains the same, thus increase class size.
The following three questions are questions related to the problem of large class size and I would like to explore these questions through research.
How does class size affect student achievement?
Why is it crucial for students in earlier grades (kindergarten through third) to incorporate smaller class size?
What are some advantages, as well as disadvantages and misconceptions for having a smaller class size?

Literature Search
I choose question number one in the previous section to complete literature search. The question asks how does class size affect student achievement? Seven key words that I used to research this topic included; class size, large, student, achievement, increase class size, primary grades, cause, long-term e...

... middle of paper ...

...re involved opinion and outlook on the smaller class size model. Limitations were not apparent with the source. The report was thorough with all stakeholders being actively involved in the case study (parent surveys, teacher feedback). The intended audience for this source was professionals in the education field and possibly school systems looking for a successfully format to mimic. The author concludes that there are many benefits to small class size including better student-teacher-parent relationships, increase in test scores, and students being more engaged in learning. Reaction to this source is positive. The author thoroughly explored all aspects of the case study including parent involvement, teacher feedback, statistics, and data. The author also including different examples of other school systems attempting the reduced class size model and their outcomes.

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