Rethinking Class Size: The Complex Story of Impact on Teaching and Learning

The debate over whether class size matters for teaching and learning is one of the most enduring—and aggressive—in education research. Teachers often insist that small classes benefit their work, but many experts argue that evidence from research shows class size has little impact on pupil outcomes, and therefore does not matter. That dominant view has informed international policymaking. In Rethinking Class Size, the lead researchers on the world’s biggest study into class size effects present a counterargument. Through detailed analysis of the complex relations involved in the classroom they reveal the mechanisms that support teachers’ experience, and they conclude that class size matters very much indeed.   Drawing on twenty years of systematic classroom observations, surveys of practitioners, detailed case studies, and extensive reviews of research, Peter Blatchford and Anthony Russell contend that common ways of researching the impact of class size are limited and sometimes misguided. While class size may have no direct effect on pupil outcomes, it can have a significant impact on interconnections within classroom processes. In describing these connections, the book opens up the everyday world of the classroom and shows that the influence of class size is felt everywhere.  

Table of Contents:
List of tables, figures and boxes Glossary Acknowledgements 1  Introduction 2  Understanding class size effects and our research approach 3  Class size and pupil outcomes 4  Class size and classroom processes: Teaching 5  Class size and classroom processes: Grouping practices and classroom management 6  Class size and classroom processes: Peer relations 7  Class size and classroom processes: The curriculum and tasks 8  Class size and classroom processes: Administrative aspects of teaching 9  Class size and differences between pupils, particularly those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) 10 Bringing it all together: toward a social pedagogy of classroom learning 11  Conclusions References

About the Author :
Peter Blatchford is Professor in Psychology and Education at the UCL Institute of Education. He directed large-scale programmes of research on the educational effects of class size differences and pupil adult ratios (CSPAR), the Deployment and Impact of Support Staff (DISS), collaborative group work (SPRinG), children with Special Needs (MAST and SENSE projects). Anthony Russell has had a career in primary teaching and teacher education in UK and abroad, curriculum development in Europe and Asia, research at King’s College and the UCL Institute of Education, university teaching in Europe, five years of advisory work in science and the authorship of over 50 books for teachers and pupils.

Review :
"A key ‘go to’ framework."