i.Class size research (CSPAR)
The team who worked on the CSPAR research project:
Professor Peter Blatchford (Project Director)
Paul Bassett – Statistician http://www.statsconsultancy.co.uk/
Penelope Barton (nee Brown) – Researcher
Clare Martin – Researcher
Dr. Anthony Russell – Researcher
Professor Harvey Goldstein – Advisor on the statistical analysis
Professor William Brown – Statistician on the analysis of the first (reception) year data
Also Gemma Catchpole, Suzanne Edmonds, Viv Moriarty, Andrew Burrell, Helen Mirelman, Sara Bubb and Jeni Riley
Thanks to Peter Mortimore, then Director of the Institute of Education, for his support in getting the CSPAR project underway.
There were also a lot of people who helped with data-entry, transcription and coding. The team are really grateful for your input.
The CSPAR project was set up to address whether there was a connection between class size and pupil academic outcomes, and between class size and classroom processes like teaching, grouping practices and pupil behaviour. It had a number of features that were designed to build on what were seen as the gaps and limitations of previous research. It used an ‘observational’ or ‘naturalistic’ longitudinal approach, rather than an interventionist one involving random assignment, as in, for example, the well-known USA STAR research (Finn & Achilles, 1999). It employed a longitudinal statistical analysis of class size and pupil and outcomes and a multi-method study of classroom processes involving national questionnaire surveys, a systematic observations component and in-depth case studies.
The first stage of the study followed a large sample of children from school entry over the first three years of school in English schools (4–7 years). There were 220 schools, with 368 classes and 9,330 children in eight Local Education Authorities (LEAs). The project then continued over KS2 (that is, 7 to 11 years) when there were 202 schools and 332 classes in Year 4 (age 8–9 years), and then, through attrition, this reduced to 173 schools and 261 classes in Year 5 (age 9–10) and 153 schools and 224 classes in Year 6 (age 10–11). The project followed 8,728 pupils in Year 4, 6,607 in Year 5 and 5,755 in Year 6.
A few key conclusions from the Class Size research :
The CSPAR research shows an effect on academic attainment in the early years of schools, but also why the usual narrow focus on class size in relation to pupils’ academic attainment can provide a misleading picture.
The connection between class size and pupil academic outcomes is just the beginning of an attempt to understand class size effects. We need to understand how class size is connected to classroom processes, e.g., how teachers teach and manage their class, the curriculum activities and tasks they set up, the administrative aspects of teaching like assessments, marking, writing reports, and relationships and interactions between pupils.
The CSPAR research shows that class size does not have a direct effect on pupil outcomes, as is commonly assumed, but has force through the many interconnections with classroom processes and the types of pupils in the class.
We also need to go further and identify the pedagogical implications for teachers, that is, guidance on how to make the most of small and large classes. We draw out the often unrealised potential of small classes, and ways of adapting to large classes.
Publications from the KS1 study (first three years of schooling) have been on relationships between class size and attainment over the reception year (Blatchford, Goldstein et al., 2002); class size and within class groupings (Blatchford, Kutnick, Baines & Martin, 2001); class size and pupil attentiveness (Blatchford, Edmonds & Martin, 2003); class size and teaching (Blatchford, Moriarty, Edmonds, Martin 2002); class size and pupil behaviour (Blatchford, 2003); as well as a book-length treatment and research article on the whole Reception and KS1 study (Blatchford 2003; Blatchford, Bassett, Goldstein & Martin, 2003).
Publications from the KS2 stage (7-11 years) of the research include Blatchford, Bassett & Brown (2011) and Blatchford, Russell, Bassett, Brown & Martin (2007). The Blatchford and Russell (2020) book was based on an extensive analysis and presented new results from the CSPAR KS2 (7–11 years) stage. In addition Peter collaborated with a colleague in Switzerland (Brühwiler and Blatchford, 2011) to look in a systematic way at the connections between class size, adaptive teacher competence, teacher quality and academic attainment.
Key reference on the class size research: Blatchford, P., and Russell, A. (2020). Rethinking Class Size: The Complex Story of Impact on Teaching and Learning. London: UCL Press. ISBN: 9781787358799 (Free Open Access PDF), 9781787358812 (Hardback), 9781787358805 (Paperback).
Website link: uclpress.co.uk/size DOI: 10.14324/111.9781787358799
Also Blatchford, P. (2027) Inside Classrooms: How contexts and relationships shape learning and teaching. London: Routledge, Chapter 5
Academic paper summing up the KS1 results:
Blatchford, P., Bassett, P., Goldstein, H., and Martin. C. (2003) Are class size differences related to pupils’ educational progress and classroom processes? Findings from the Institute of Education Class Size Study of children aged 5-7 Years. British Educational Research Journal, 29, 5, 709-730. Special Issue ‘In Praise of Educational Research’, Guest Editors: S. Gorrard, C. Taylor and K. Roberts
Peter has written a number of reviews of the research literature on the class size issue, including:
Blatchford, P. (2012) Three generations of research on class size effects. Chapter in: The American Psychological Association (APA) Educational Psychology Handbook. Vol. 2 Individual Differences and Cultural and Contextual Factors. pp 529-554. Editors-in-Chief Karen R. Harris, Steven Graham and Timothy Urdan. American Psychological Association: Washington, DC.
Class Size and Effective Teaching International Project
There has been a lot of debate around the world about class size. In the West there has been interest over why Asian regions like Shanghai and Hong Kong perform well academically, despite larger class sizes. Paradoxically—and often on the basis of Western research—a number of Asian countries have introduced policies to reduce class sizes, in order to help students to develop critical thinking skills and collaborative approaches, for example.
This project was based on the belief that an international network would help advance understanding of the educational effects of class size and how teachers can make the most of smaller (and larger) classes. It brought together prominent researchers from institutions in the UK, mainland Europe, East Asia and the US, countries of strategic importance in this field. Network members included the Institute of Education, University College London; the Hong Kong Institute of Education (now Education University of Hong Kong); the University of Cambridge; University of New York State, Buffalo; University Pierre Mendes, France; East China Normal University, Shanghai; and Hong Kong University.
Key reference for international perspective on class size research: the edited book:
Blatchford, P., Chan, Kam Wing., Galton, M., Lai, Kwok Chan., & Lee, John Chi-Kin (Eds.) (2016) Class size: Eastern and Western perspectives. Asia-Europe Education Dialogue Series. Series Editor Kerry Kennedy, Routledge