A review of international research published last week suggests that pupils made more progress when class sizes were cut, rather than when their teacher had the support of a full-time classroom assistant.
The report, compiled by the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE) on behalf of the Scottish Executive Education Department, concludes that there is sufficient evidence, mainly from American studies, to show that reductions in class size are associated with improvements in pupils'
achievements. Smaller class sizes were particularly beneficial in the early stages of a child's schooling, from ages five to eight, and there were major benefits where class sizes were reduced to below 20 pupils with one teacher, although this was seen as prohibitively expensive.
However, US research also suggested that using full-time classroom assistants as a means of achieving a lower pupil:adult ratio did not increase pupil achievement. The report, Does Small Really Make a Difference?, says, 'This remains a puzzling result and may indicate that classroom assistants require training in how to support children's learning before benefits will occur.' It adds that it may also be necessary to train both teachers and classroom assistants to work together.
The current debate about what a classroom assistant should actually do in the classroom is also highlighted in the report. Some academics believe that teachers and assistants should both give one-to-one attention to children, while others suggest that teachers could work interactively with some pupils while the assistant works with the rest of the class.
The SCRE report cites a 1998 study carried out south of the border which found that headteachers believed young children needed the stability of the teacher-pupil relationship, though they also felt the relationship that can develop between children and a good classroom assistant was valuable for their social development. 'Teachers in this survey observed that classroom assistants were often more concerned with outcomes than a learning strategy, and that frequently they gave an answer to a pupil too quickly,'
it says.
While there is a wealth of international research on the impact of class size, few British and no specifically Scottish studies emerge from the SCREreview. 'This presents a problem for policy-makers in Scottish education,' says the report. 'Unfortunately, without Scottish-based research the conclusions remain tentative.'
Commenting on the SCRE report, a spokesman for the Scottish Executive said, 'Classroom assistants have made a positive impact as they have reduced teacher workload. As a result teachers' time has been freed up to spend more time doing what they do best - teach.'
Last September Scotland's First Minister, Jack McConnell, welcomed the interim findings of an earlier SCRE report into the impact of classroom assistants. 'Classroom assistants not only allow pupils to benefit from improved teaching, research also indicates that they can have a positive effect upon pupil learning experiences,' he said.
Does Small Really Make a Difference? is available on the SCRE website, www.scre.ac.uk.
