STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF ONTARIO'S CLASS SIZE REDUCTION POLICY
The Ontario Ministry of Education has initiated and pursued a number of related strategies to support school boards (their schools and teachers) in meeting targets for achievement levels in elementary schools as measured by provincial assessments. Among the most popular of these initiatives is class size reduction with its aim to reduce the large majority of primary classrooms to 20 or fewer students by 2008.
CEA has undertaken a study to understand the effects of class size reductions in Ontario schools. The study will provide a portrait of the teaching and learning environment created in smaller classes and related initiatives. The study will look for innovative approaches to the implementation of the policy and assess whether the anticipated policy outcomes have been achieved. The research will be of primary interest to the school boards and the Ministry of Education. It will have value across the country and to a number of key stakeholder groups.
The literature review, Class Size Reduction: What the Literature Suggests About what Works (PDF) is now available with a stand alone Executive Summary (PDF). This review includes analyses of over eighty reports and articles from a variety of Canadian and international sources, along with five in-depth descriptions of large-scale class size reduction initiatives. According to the review, the research suggests that:
- Reducing class size can help improve student achievement on standardized tests, increase student academic engagement and decrease negative social consequences, if certain factors are taken into consideration. These include articulating clear goals, selecting design elements carefully, targeting student populations most in need of individualized attention, and emphasizing promising teaching strategies.
- There are shortcomings with the existing research on class size resulting from a lack of specificity, inconsistent terminology, and other factors. Educational research would be more credible and useful to decision makers if research on topical issues adopted consistent research strategies and took greater care regarding the assertion of claims by taking into account the quality and appropriateness of available evidence.
Principal Investigator: Nina Bascia, Ph. D., Ontario Institute for Studes in Education/University of Toronto (OISE/UT)
More Information
Ontario Ministry of Education - Class Size Tracker