Teaching Practices and Class Size: A New Look at an Old Issue.

The reduction of class size is one of a number of policy decisions with the potential for direct impact on classrooms and classroom instruction; however, little descriptive information exists about how teachers may adapt teaching practices to take advantage of possible benefits of reduced numbers of students. With few exceptions, studies of class size have examined achievement effects, but have not documented how class size affects teaching practices. Investigators who have addressed this question have reported mixed results. Filby, Cahen, McCutcheon, and Kyle (1980, and discussed in Odden, 1990), in intensive case studies, found that teachers in smaller classes were more able to complete their direct lessons in reading and math, and to develop them in depth; smaller classes functioned more smoothly and were better managed; and students in smaller classes received more individualized attention, had less wait time, and tended to have better task engagement. Bourke (1986) documented relationships among class size, teaching practices, and student achievement in Australian math classes. Teachers in larger classes used more groups and lectured or explained more to students; students in larger classes asked more questions. Teachers in smaller classes asked more follow-up questions, assigned more homework, gave more oral tests, had more direct interaction with students, and made fewer nonacademic procedural arrangements. Teachers with smaller classes followed teaching practices similar to those found in classes with higher ability students. Teaching practices affected student