Survey

Class Size and Student Achievement

Introduction

among Saudi Arabian student at Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia, in the last five

year . This analysis is crucial as it will contribute highly to this discussion as it helps in the

debate on the class size and how it relates to the student's achievement. This proposal will

mainly be based and focused on Clark Atlanta University. The study will seek to investigate

and find out the impact of class size on class size affects the performance of a

student. Also, this proposal will also seek to examine the effect of the student's load, and this

will include the efforts of all students taught across all courses.

In investigating the relationship between class size and student achievement. Various studies

are focusing on the effect of classrooms on the attitude, morale, and performance of the

student. However, most of these studies before focused on elementary schools and

preschools.

Scholars have debate the impact of class size and student achievement. The most stated

reason among parents, teachers, school administrators, and policy makers is that smaller class

sizes lead to improvements in student learning and achievements. This conventional wisdom,

however, has not been supported by any tangible evidence. While some studies have found

evidence for the importance of class size on student achievement, others strongly rebuke this

claim arguing that class size has very little or no impact on measurable student outcomes.

Many have written and given theories that are linking students' performance to various

phenomenon some of which have been investigated and proven right while some lack the

necessary support to substantiate. In this study, I will incorporate data from all sources that

are relevant to this study such as data from student survey that was conducted in the

university at the beginning of the semester along with the school records from instructors

concerning attendance, performance or even the students' grade. These will help greatly in the

study.

The research question is clear, focused, precise and specific in the following respects. In the

process of evaluating the relationsh

numerous research that is regarding this topic on relationships between class size and student

achievement took place. But very few people have been able to come up with enough

evidence to support their arguments. There are questions therefore that have not been

answered ever in all the research that have taken place; how exactly does the class size affect

on student achievement? In a big class with many students, is there adequate communication?

Does the instructors' attention to students vary with the scale of the level and the number of

the students? Does the environmental condition caused by the size of the class affect the

performance of the student in any way? These are some of the questions that lacked answers

in the previous research that were carried out by various scholars. According to my findings,

many researchers were generalizing and assuming other student specific needs that also play

key roles in determining performance and that are clear what I will give most of my

concentration in the research.

Since I strongly believe that the size of a classroom can have massive imp

achievement, I therefore decided to develop proposals that will see Clark Atlanta University

establish a clear relationship between class size and student achievement that have been

studied for more than a decade now with microscopic success. The proposal's sole purpose

will be to break down the minor issues and explore them independently before giving a report

on how each and every one of them affects performance and outcome of the student. And at

the end I strongly believe that the proposal will prove that in deed class size affects on

student achievement.

The objective of my study is to further investigate the effects of class size on students'

academic achievement in Clark Atlanta University. Previous studies show mixed results on

the scale of the class and how the student will learn. The issue has hence remained

unresolved, implying that more research is needed. Optimal class size, given institutional

budgetary constraints, has continued to be a problem that requires further research. Some of

the researchers have done reports in other institutions that are not Clark Atlanta University

with factors that are very different from those in our institution as they are too general.

Therefore, in liaison with existing research, the proposal will tend to elaborate that classroom

size has an impact on the achievement of the student. And that is why I set objectives for the

study in the following manner:

To establish the communication of teachers and students in a classroom (both big and

small) Clark Atlanta University.

To establish how the attention of the instructor to students relate to class size and

achievement.

To establish how the environment of a classroom vary with size and achievement.

Previously researchers have conceptualized classroom size as a non-factor in the motivation

of a student during the process of learning. They instead prioritise other factors such as the

individualeffort put in by a student and the attitude of the student as some of the key factors

that determine the performance of the student. For instance the study done by savage in 1999.

This proposal will seek to use the conceptualization of the previous scholars to operationalize

e size of the classroom several points that I have also gathered before I started the research. I

have been in both small and big classes with different populations and from this I understand

what they all mean in terms of performance. In the last two years I have also read and

comprehended other jobs and I can proudly declare my support for the reduction

Comment [OK1]: Where is that conceptualization?

of classrooms. I have also talked to many students while sharing ideas and from this I have

gathered a lot of information that I believe will be very useful in the quest to establish the

effect of class size reduct . I have also assed the performance

of students from classrooms of different sizes and from that I know that the size of a class has

impact on the achievement of the student.From the responses I will obtain here, I will use

them to measure and indicate the effect and impact that reduction of classroom size has had

on the achievement of the students at Clark Atlanta University.

Many scholars and learners have also conceptualised the achievement of students as being the

scores and the GPA they achieve with inclusion of what the students absorb during the lesson

time. This proposal will borrow conceptualization from (Altun, 2015:Genc&Sahin.

2015.:Hossain& Tarmizi. 2012) to try and operationalize

achievement with the previous points i highlighted. Along with other points; the GPA of

tested students improved within two years of class size reduction and most of the experiments

were working, score tests were increasing as well.

Null hypothesis Ho: There is a significant relationship between the class size and the

performance of the students at Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, Georgia. This is according

to statistics of the past two years.

Alternative hypothesis Ha: there is no significant relationship between class size and the

performance of the students. This will also be in accordance to the statistics of the last two

years.

LITERATURE REVIEW

There have been several studies conducted to conceptualize, operationalize, and measure the

nature and extent of relationship between class size and student performance. The solemn

purpose for class and teachers is to learn the subject matter. Class set up is important to

Comment [OK2]: For student achievement, using the following statements in your survey instrument: 1. My course score/grade is high 2.My course score/grade is medium 3.My course score/grade is low 4. I absorb a lot in my classes 5.My GPA is 3 and above

support instructing and teaching. The environment of the classes can improve the studying

environment and prevent problems related to behaviour before they take place. Reorganizing

the studying environment to create a conducive environment it is essential for both instructor

and student. In her book (Resiliency), What We Have read. Bernard elaborates how each

child has a unique innate developmental pattern. And "what this individual innate

developmental capacity needs to produce good improvement outcomes is an enabling

condition, in which young people can achieve their natural, psychological needs. For being a

member and affiliating, this brings some sense of competence and also autonomy, and this

makes one feel like they are improving and of-of this end up bringing the feeling of hope.

Research also shows that physical arrangement of the classroom will affect both the student

and the teacher(Savage, 1999), and that a well-structured class will improve a student's

academic and behavioural results (MacAulay, 1990). The class environment is the instructors'

statement to the learners and others concerning his or her values regarding behaviour and

teaching. The spatial arrangement of a class refers to the students seating arrangement their

seating arrangements about their classmates the freedom of students to move freely within a

particular class, concerning size. The class setting suggests that the class should be organized

to host a range of activities within the day and to meet the instructors' instructional goals. The

class should be structured in a way to allow the instructor to look into the academic, social,

and psychosocial needs of his or her learners (MacAulay.1990). The location of the teacher

where he or she can see and can be seen by all Minimal distraction that keeps

students engaged. Give each student as well as the instructor a personal space always to

ensure that each and every student can see the trainers' presentation and resource tools used in

classrooms.

The capacity and abilities of a structured learning environment are clearly large spaces within

the class that is to be used for different purposes, that students know how to behave in.

Students with learning behaviour problems may have separate quiet places to cool down or

work independently.

For as long as I am concerned, the attention that an instructor gives to his or her student

greatly has the impact on the students' achievement. But then, this attention will also rely on

the size of the classroom according to history; the IDEA Centre was categorized classroom

size as small (10-14), and medium (15-34), then large (35-49), and very large to be (50+)

when preparing technical results. This same grouping was used to the current analysis, which

accounted to the following distribution of classes: small was (63,622), then medium

(349,313), and finally large (48,916), not forgetting very large (27,503).

It is also more evident that the style of teaching that an instructor may choose always depends

on the size of the class (Odden, 2014). In a smaller class, it is easier to teach communication

skills such as oral and written skills since the teacher can attend to all the students as their

numbers are manageable. In a huge class the numbers might be a little bit bulky for

communication skills, and therefore they resort to teaching facts other than communication

skills. As anyone or everybody knows, it is better if a student id equipped with the oral and

written skills than to know facts that can hardly be applied even in tests or in life.

As anyone might anticipate, the core approach to teaching varies from person to person. One

of the reasons teachers to a great and very high level of learning emphasize the learning of

factual knowledge may be due to reliance on the only lecture as their only way of giving

instruction (Blatchford, Bassett, Goldstein, & Martin, 2003). In these cases, there are no

consultations or homework due to large numbers. Teachers in large classes (about 86 percent)

are likely to lecture many times and rely on it than those in small size classes (43 percent) and

relatively low proportion (54 percent) classes. However, a lecture is still the most reliable

method of obstruction regardless of the size of the class.

Comment [OK3]: Use the following statements in your survey instrument for Class Size: 1.My class size is 10-14 students 2.My class size is 15-34 students 3.My Class size is 35- 49 students 4.My class size is 50 plus students

Teaching techniques and methods may also vary. Depending on students, instructors and

teachers in classes containing small or middle number students may involve them in in hand

methods of learning like assignments that may require creativity and a lot of effort

(Blatchford, Bassett, & Brown, 2011). And ask students to help each other understand

concepts or ideas. Perhaps most troubling is that students in enormous and colossal classes

report the teacher is not likely to motivate them to aspire and achieve goals that pose

challenge to them. The reason for such lack of inspiration and challenge may relate to

differences in course characteristics. Students in large classes report fewer non-reading

assignments than do those in small and medium size classes. They also grade teachers lower

on their result standards and their expectations that students share in the obligation for

learning. So that, the case could argue that that students view populated institutions as less

effective.

But don't think that students are toiling at the bit to register in courses they view as less

efficient. Students in small classes repeatedly report a developed desire to take the course

than those large classes. In fact, they report stronger work habits. And it is not only the

students who perceive such class size differences. 53 percent of teachers in small size classes

believe the level of learner enthusiasm had a positive impact on results compared to only 38

percent of teachers in colossal classes.

Such interest turns into higher student improvement of success on respective objectives.

Student average improvement on course goals the instructor ranks as either essential or

crucial is more than one-half deviation higher in small size compared to enormous classes.

The benefit for small classes is usually evident in developing creative abilities like writing a,

etc.) And communication skills (both oral and written), here the progress of the learner is a

great concern and very high as compared to classes where there is even more than 100 in a

class. There are 6000 of such classrooms in the database. Gaps that exist in classes of small

size, that of medium size and very large sizes are very small regarding oral and written skills

or even the factual skills. At times they hardly change in classes exceeding 100 learners.

There is also a particular finding that relates the first impression of the classroom to the

performance of the student. If the student finds a small size class, then the student is more

likely to perform well than that student that will first land in medium or classes of big size.

It is not a new thing to discuss the effect of class size on the performance of the student as it

is not a new thing. The IDEA knows that class size does affect performance and hence course

enrolment is considered a variable when computing results. Moreover, recommended

resolution presented to teachers' in the personal IDEA level results are made depending on

comparisons between the classroom's average performance for a teaching method and other

classes of similar size (Blatchford, Bassett, & Brown, 2011). The effectiveness of an

educational technique does not only rely on the objective on emphasis but also on the total

number of the enrolled students in a classroom. However, in the previous research that was

done by other scholars, it has been reported that individual efforts and the attitude of a

student will have more impact on the result of the student than the class size.

Even in higher learning institutes, it is still common for instructors to focus on delivering

factual information other than the written and oral skills that are equally useful. Research has

shown that this is due to the high numbers that are reported in the institutions. The case is not

different in Atlanta Georgia University where the population of students is equally high.

Therefore, in many classes instructors do not provide full background information on the

courses they offer but rather give factual information.

Policy makers and organizations of higher learning continue to research the possibility of

giving fewer sections with larger numbers, the effects of class population on instructor's

character and student improvement, motivation, and work behaviour should be part of the

discussion. Admittedly, the increasing sophistication of learning analytics and data mining

has the potential of making MOOCs and the huge number more personalized (Finn,

Pannozzo, & Achilles, 2003). The teacher could have the likelihood to tell when a student is

struggling and providing targeted feedback and additional homework to fasten performance,

whether this approach will foster the development of creative abilities and communication

skills remains to be in the future.

The additional expense of smaller classes in an institution that is already perceived to be

expensive is precisely known. Nonetheless, the self-reported teaching benefits and positive

attitudes on smaller classrooms should not be assumed. Although our information is based on

student self-result, many of the reports noted above success testing using direct measures of

student achievements. At the least, having a good understanding of the qualities of small and

medium classrooms that support greater learning might better the effectiveness of larger

classrooms.

In this area, I will also look at some of the articles that were done previously by other

researchers. These researchers probably had the same motive of wanting to know the impacts

of increasing or reducing a classroom size and how it will translate on performance. In this

review, while also seeking to answer a few question from my statement of the problem I will

also try and elaborate more on the meaning of a reduced classroom size. When we talk about

the ratio of the students to the teacher then here we are discussing the classroom size. When

the number of the students in a classroom is very high in rationing compared to that of the

instructors they have, then we say that the class is big. But when more instructors are sought

or the numbers of students reduced, the classroom size is reducing which is the positive side

of this discussion (Buckingham, 2003). I identified 19 studies that met my requirements.

Most of these addressed reduced class numbers programs in levels K-3. All these studies

were done with the aim of improving the understanding of this phenomenon of class si15:1.

Small classrooms may differ in other ways, in addition to the student to teacher ratio,

depending on school leadership, facilities, and teaching personnel, as well as official policies.

The typical model is one teacher in one classroom teaching a given number of learners, but

other models have been applied.

Project STAR elaborated two categories of reduced size classes (Folger, & Breda, 1989):

Classes of 13 to 17 learners taught by one instructor; and

Classes of 22-26 taught by an instructor and an .

Project STAR elaborated large classes as 22-26 students taught by one instructor.

Wisconsin's SAGE had four levels of classrooms, all intended to achieve the obligated 15:1

ratio (Molnar, 1999):

Regular class (15 or fewer learners with one instructor);

Team teachers class (30 or fewer students in a class with two instructors);

Shared space class (an average class divided by a short time wall with one instructor

and 15 students on either side of the wall); and

Floating teacher classroom (30 students with one teacher plus an additional teacher

during reading, language arts, and mathematics).

The study of 1978 that was done by Glass was the landmark of all studies. The study had

more than 50 studies looked into and cited and also had more than 100 comparisons of other

schools with classrooms of different sizes this was indeed a comparison for almost all issue

that is being discussed currently in this research area. The meta-analysis showed:as the size

of a classroom reduces then the performance increases, in fact, performance is better for a

class with up to 20.

The most substantial contemporary evidence that proved smaller classes lead to improved

abilities is Tennessee's Project STAR (Folger, & Breda, 1989). This program in 2002 went an

extra mile in this study. They picked up random samples of students from different schools

and put them in different groups. Each group was then put in a different class with different

sizes. Most of these learners had not been to these classrooms before, and so the results were

regarded as genuine.: Students in small classrooms did better than those in larger classrooms

throughout K-3 grades; Minority and inner city children improved the most from smaller

classrooms; and The more years in reduced classrooms, the longer lasting the good results.

Evaluation of Wisconsin's SAGE found alike evidence to support the policy of reducing

classroom size during the early stages. Molnar et al. (1999) found that involvement in any

one of the four types of SAGE classes was a predictor of student's result. Controlling for pre-

test scores, family finances, school attendance, and ethnicity, they established that: learners in

grades 1-3 in SAGE classes scored relatively higher on the comprehension Test of primary

abilities in reading, language, arts, mathematics, and in the total result, than learners in

traditional classes.

Although first-grade SAGE students had slightly lower pre-test scores than learners in larger

classes, the analysis showed that in the post test results, the SAGE students were recording

higher grades than the students in the larger classrooms and they also maintained the results

for two consecutive grades. This meant that concerning achievement, then the SAGE students

had achieved more than the students in the large classrooms. Gains for African American

learners were even much greater than those for white students. Mitchell and Mitchell (1999)

analyzed the effect of California's CSR program after two years of application. They

analyzed test data from the Stanford gain Tests 9th edition testing, language, and

mathematics subtests as well as over 30 variables that are related to learner demographics,

schools, classes, and instructors from over 80 schools from eight school districts in South

California.

In the Mitchell and Mitchell study, many demographic variables such as gender, student

poverty, ethnicity, and language spoke at home were related to low student achievements.

Nonetheless, when assessing for these variables, learners in reduced size classrooms made

smaller, positive achievements in student gains. But, the scholars acknowledged, other

reasons could have contributed to these accomplishments. Significant alterations in

California's public learning system occurred in tandem. This test was the first stage of the

CSR program. It included a new requirement in each category, revisions to bilingual

education, new curriculum designs and materials, new state-wide examinations, and a new

result accountability program, none of which were taken into consideration by this research

and any of which could have contributed to the performance gains.

Nye et al. (2001a) analyzed the relationship between the number of years that learners were

involved in Project STAR small classrooms and their grades of achievement. After one year,

the learners in lower classrooms had relatively higher performance scores on the Stanford

gains Test reading and mathematics tests than students in larger classrooms. The gap in

scores widened after two years, indicating that the effects of small classrooms are cumulative.

Even with findings that suggested no relationship between classroom size and student

performance, the eligibility of the evidence seconds good effects and formal improvements

when class population reduction programs in the lower grades are well spelled and quickly

fostered.

Student's success, however, is not the only factor in consideration. The benefits that come

with smaller classes must go proportionally with the costs. In Atlanta Georgia University, the

reduction of class size would mean improvement in a lot of sectors. There will be the need for

the hiring of more teachers so as to make the ratio of learners to teachers reasonable as well

as improvement of infrastructure to host those teachers.

RESEARCH METHODS

The proposed study will use heterogeneous purposive sampling, non-probability sampling

method. My research will be experimental as I will try and see if a reduction of classroom

size will improve performance. I will also apply heterogeneous purposive sampling method.

The samples will consist of 30 Atlanta university students from small class size and 30

Atlanta university students placed in a large size class.

In order to win trust from the participants and make sure they give credible responses, I will

try toelaborate the concept of how the data will be used and that is by assuring the subjects

that the data will be used only for research purposes.As a scholar,I have to protect the

identities of the people whose information I use in the research and prevent it from all sources

of possible leaking.

I will also apply quantitative and qualitative analysis methods in the process of collecting

data. In my survey in the study I will use 9-point likert scale to collect qualitative data. I will

also employ proper coding techniques while using the scale in order to come up with proper

evaluation of the data that i shall have collected. I will also use the chi- square model in order

to determine the impact of reduction of classroom sizes on the student performance.

One of the major challenges I expect to face with the study is validity. Conclusion validity is

where the independent variable (classroom size) is either related or correlated to or with the

dependent variable ( ). Internal validity concerns whether there is

casualty to prove the claim that the reduction of class size (independent variable) affects the

achievement of the students (dependent variable). Content validity mainly looks at how

survey questions for reduction of class size, student achievement and several other control

variables that the scholar picks are about or represent the areas with content. To ensure

content validity i will need judgement from experts and their evaluation. There is also

external validity, which also concerns with the extents that we generalise our findings about

the relationship of class size and the student achievement at Clark Atlanta University,

Atlanta, Georgia.

Conclusion

In conclusion, due to the importance of class size to student academics d that the

concluded data of the proposed research will result into student achievement. Therefore, if

the study finds out that the reduction of a classroom size will have an impact on the

achievement of the student positively, then that can be purported to be limited external

validity. And this is with regards to other studies that have also established that the reduction

of the class size will result to the improvemen Similarly, if the

study finds out that the reduction of the class of the

students at Clark Atlanta University, and then the study will be considered an exceptional

case. However, according to Babbie this does not disapprove all existing studies that

reduction of class size causes student achievement.

References

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