Study: No benefit to smaller
classes
Times Colonist (Victoria)
Wed 24
Aug 2005
Page: A2
Section: News
Byline: Armando D'Andrea
Source:
CanWest News Service

TORONTO --There is no "solid base" to suggest smaller
class sizes help boost academic achievement for Canadian elementary and
secondary school students, according to a report released Tuesday by the C.D. Howe Institute.

The report also suggested that millions of dollars spent in education systems
across the country to lower class sizes would be better used elsewhere, for
example on improving teacher training and development.

But the study has irked teachers' union executives who say the report is out
of touch with classroom reality, and that reducing class size is an effective
way to maximize the education process for children.

The report comes on the heels of recent moves by some provincial governments
to reduce class numbers, among them Ontario's infusion of millions of dollars to
hire more teachers. In B.C., the teachers' union has called on the province to
reduce class sizes, and said the issue should be a part of contract bargaining.

The C.D.
Howe report criticizes the smaller class size
strategy on the basis of studies completed over the past 30 years, which it said
showed "no solid base of empirical evidence to show that smaller classes improve
student achievement."

C.D. Howe reviewed a Canadian study from the 1970s that
focused on four classes ranging in size from 16 students to 37 students, and
found that "there were no significant differences attributable to class size for
achievement in art, composition, vocabulary, reading and mathematics problem
solving" between the class with 16 students and that with 37.

The report also cited studies from the U.S., which it said showed a decline
in student/teacher ratios without a corresponding increase in student
achievement.

According to the report, an international study showed that in math studies,
countries such as South Korea, with larger class sizes, outperformed countries
such as the U.S. and Canada, where class sizes were smaller.

The report also suggested that part of the reason lowering class sizes did
not correlate with improvements in student performance was due to the quality of
teachers hired to help lower the numbers. "Reducing class size invariably means
increasing the number of teachers, and it may be that hiring more teachers
forces a school, board or jurisdiction to dip into the pool of less-able
teachers," it said.

C.D. Howe Institute policy
analyst Yvan Guillemette told the National Post Tuesday that while
in some cases class-size reduction may be useful, it should not be used as a
"blanket strategy" to improve education. "It's so expensive ... I think it just
helps teachers more than students," he said.

The report drew a sharp response from the teaching profession.

Winston Carter, president-designate of the Canadian Federation of Teachers,
reacted angrily to the C.D. Howe contention
that pressure for smaller classes comes primarily from unions representing
teachers who want to reduce their workload. He dismissed the study, saying a
series of other reports from the U.S. have confirmed "without a doubt" that
smaller classes create a richer learning environment for children.

Edition: Final
Story Type: News
Length: 494
words