Teacher-Student Ratio and Elementary Children

1
Teacher-Student Ratio andElementary
ChildrensAcademic Achievement

• Wendy Jowers, Teri Paulk, and
• Sol Summerlin

2
Outline

• Purpose of the Proposal
• Research Question
• Definition of Terms
• Review of Literature

3

• Directional Hypothesis
• Procedures
• Data Analysis
• Final Points

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Purpose of this Proposal

• To study the effect of teacher-student ratio on
  the academic achievement of elementary students.

5
Research Question

• What is the effect of teacher-student ratio on
  the academic achievement of elementary students?

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Definition of Terms

• Teacher-Student Ratio
  the number of students assigned to a teacher
  per classroom.
• Low Teacher-Student ratio
• 18 or fewer students assigned to a teacher per
  classroom.

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Definition of Terms

• High Teacher-Student Ratio
• 25 or more students assigned to a teacher per
  classroom.
• Academic Achievement
• the Total Reading Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE)
  scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills before
  and after reduction of class size.

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Definition of Terms

• Elementary Students
  students enrolled in the second grade at Westside
  Elementary School and Satilla Elementary School
  in Douglas, Georgia during the 1998 school year.

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Review of Literature Class Size

• Small Classes
• Majority of small class sizes range from 13-18
  students.
• Reduced class size is more conducive to the
  learning environment than a large class (Finn
  Achilles, 1990).

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• Advantages of small classes
• teacher-students under less stress
• more relaxed environment
• more individualized instruction
• Large Classes
• 19-30 students (Mueller, Chase, Walden, 1990)
• most classrooms are considered large classes

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• Disadvantages of large classes
• more discipline problems
• higher retention rates
• increased absences
• more special education referrals
• lower self-esteem among students (Cited in WWW,
  n.d.)

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Effects of Class Size on Academic Achievement

• Research has been Positive for Small Class Size
• improved instruction
• increased reading test scores (Mueller, Chase,
  Walden, 1988)
• higher self-esteem
• students in small classes outperform students in
  large classes on standardized tests (Word et al.,
  1990).

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Directional Hypothesis

• Reduced class size will increase reading
  achievement among elementary students.

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Procedures

• About 300 second graders from Westside or Satilla
  Elementary Schools.
• Seven classrooms from each school.
• Daily reading instruction of 120 minutes.
• ITBS will be given as pre-test in the fall and
  post-test in the spring of the same school year.

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Data Analysis

• Comparison of scores according to class size
  (i.e., small versus large).
• Independent samples t-test to determine whether
  the means of these two groups are significantly
  different.
• Dependent samples t-tests to assess gain score
  differences over the school year.
• Level of statistical significance for all
  comparisons will be set at .05.

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Final Points

• Test scores rise when districts use money to
  reduce class size (Bracey, 1995).
• Is reducing class size necessary to the
  improvement of education?