Class‐size and Learning: the Tennessee experiment — what follows?

Abstract

The exceptionally large ‘Tennessee experiment’ — involving 7000 pupils — to elucidate the effects of class‐size on primary school pupils’ rate of learning has been widely interpreted as showing convincingly that classes of 15 pupils learn more rapidly, in an important sense, than classes of 24 pupils. The present re‐analysis in terms of value‐added in learning — the annual increase in SAT scores (rather than the absolute levels of those scores) — indicates that the benefits to average children resulting simply from a lowering of class‐size, while positive, are negligible in magnitude and not justifiable in relation to the additional economic resources required. The paper suggests that benefits are more likely to result from targeting additional resources to improved teaching styles, improved teaching materials and providing small classes for pupils with recognised learning difficulties; further research on class‐size needs to concentrate on the correct proportion of low‐attaining pupils that would benefit from attending small classes, the optimal size of such classes, and the fractions of the day which pupils with varying difficulties should attend small and normal‐sized classes.     

Investigating the role of the HLTA in supporting learning in English schools

The development of support staff was a key aspect of the Labour government’s reform of the school workforce in England. As part of this strategy approximately 25,000 Teaching Assistants (TAs) gained Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA) status and were deployed in schools in a variety of roles, often operating in a quasi-teaching role. The research re-visits individuals who had acquired HLTA status between 2006 and 2009 and had participated in a questionnaire survey regarding their role at that time. A duplicate questionnaire was distributed in 2013 to 305 of these HLTAs and was followed up in 2014 by focus groups with self-selecting individuals from the original sample. To date there has been little research relating to the development of the HLTA role and the implications this has for both teachers and pupils, particularly in terms of provision for the most vulnerable learners.