When the long-awaited decision about class size and composition is handed down by Canada’s Supreme Court in July, the legal issues between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. government might be resolved, at least temporarily.
However, the key educational questions will still remain unanswered.
When it comes to influence on student achievement, how significant is class size?
What other factors are just as, if not more, influential?
A paper published by the U.S. Center For Public Education documented several studies that concluded smaller classes in the early grades (K-3) can boost student academic achievement and that a class size of no more than 18 students per teacher is required to produce the greatest benefits.
A landmark 1978 study by Glass and Smith of 80 research reports strongly endorsed reduced class size in the early years as a reform likely to produce improvements in later academic achievement.
But an analysis of those studies concluded that class size by itself was not as important as the experience and preparation of teachers. Reducing class size would have little effect, said the researchers, without well-qualified teachers who, supported by appropriate professional development, know how to positively enhance the effect of lower class size on academic achievement.
The C.D. Howe Institute, widely considered to be one of Canada’s most influential think tanks, agrees — sort of.
In its review of research in 2005, the institute found limited agreement among five National Issues in Education polls commissioned by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation between 1997 and 2004.
Research, said the Howe report, generally agreed that restricting class sizes to below 20 students in kindergarten and Grade 1 improves student achievement, with the strongest effects concentrated at the beginning of a pupil’s schooling.
The hesitation about full agreement was based on the additional finding that while reducing class size is the most cost-effective strategy available to raise young pupils’ achievement, the evidence was not as clear in the case of the later primary and secondary grades, where smaller classes have not been shown to produce tangible achievement gains.
On that more cautionary side of the debate, some economists, researchers and education specialists cite a lack of data-based support, along with considerable costs, as their reasons for doubting that reductions in class size at every grade level is all that it takes to benefit students.
The cost-effective argument here is that public funds spent on class-size reduction goals would probably be just as well spent elsewhere; for example, on better teacher training and development.
Politically, the efforts of teacher unions across the country to influence the discussion have been successful and the Howe Institute reported that Canadians cited class-size reduction as the most pressing educational spending priority. Seventy-six per cent of those surveyed said that public school classes are too large.
No matter what the Supreme Court decides, the class-size issue will, by this time next year, have less impact on the public school system than three other significant occurrences.
First, the fact that about 5,000 more students than last year enrolled this year in B.C.’s public schools will be both good news and bad news for political parties vying to become government.
Should the trend continue and depending at what age levels and where population growth occurs, what has been a surplus of classroom space and teachers could become a classroom and teacher shortage.
Second, and still the most contentious, will be the continued and unresolved issue of class composition.
Since 2006-07, the number of classes with four or more children with special needs has risen sharply, from 9,559 to something over 16,000.
Those kids need additional support. Even with that in place, their inclusion in a standard classroom affects notions of effective class size, no matter what the Supreme Court decides.
Like a lot of other good ideas that need followup in the form of additional funding, the inclusion of children with special needs is unquestionably beneficial to those children and to other kids in the class who will be moving, as adults, into a society that accepts and accommodates the fact that we are all different, but are all deserving of respect and a place in the community.
Third, 2017 will see a provincial election, which, if the BCTF and the provincial parent group have anything to do with it, will include spirited debate about the progress or otherwise of public education over the previous four years.
Geoff Johnson is a retired superintendent of schools.
