Class size blamed for bad behaviour

Class size matters. Big classes increase bad behaviour among pupils and add to teacher stress, says a new independent study published yesterday.

They also depress the achievement of pupils aged three to 14, says the study from Nottingham University which reviewed all the research in this country and abroad on the issue of class size.

The research, commissioned by the National Association of Head Teachers, lambasts last year's report from the Office for standards in education (Ofsted) which said there was no evidence to justify spending money on class-size reductions, except for the youngest pupils.

David Hart, the association's general secretary, blamed Ofsted for letting class size become a political issue and for double standards.

"The Ofsted report was a shabby attempt to undermine what anybody with an ounce of common sense knows to be true: class size does matter."

Just four months after Ofsted published the class size report, he said, it produced another report which said the pupil-teacher ratio in independent schools improved standards there.

Overall, there are 10.4 pupils for each teacher in independent schools. In state schools, the figures are 22.9 for primary and 16.5 for secondary.

More than a million primary school pupils are in classes of more than 30 and class sizes are still rising. An estimated 18,000 pupils are in classes of more than 40.

Ministers say there is no evidence in this country that class sizes affect pupil achievement.

Professor Chris Day, who carried out the research, said it was important to look at factors other than the quality of teaching and learning when considering the effects of class size. Pupil behaviour and teacher workload were also important.

He said: "What the research unequivocally shows both from America and in this country is that class size limits the range of teaching approaches, however good the teacher, and limits the ability to cater for pupils' particular needs and to identify those needs. The American research even suggests that class size may have an effect on retaining teachers."

He said the Ofsted report was flawed. It took information from individual inspections, aggregated it and then used it in an entirely different situation. "It used subjective judgements as objective facts."

Professor Day suggested the optimum class size was between 24 and 30. Labour has promised to reduce class sizes for five- to seven-year-olds to under 30 pupils. The National Foundation for Educational Research has calculated that the cost will be around pounds 67m. Ofsted says to reduce average primary classes by one pupil would cost pounds 170m.

Heads say they are determined to make class size an election issue. Mr Hart said: "It would be a foolish politician in the run-up to the general election who tried to hide behind a devalued report and hoodwink voters into thinking class size doesn't matter."

Nick Brooks, a Nottingham head, said: "If you look at Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden and Hungary, pupil-teacher ratios are about half ours."

A spokeswoman for Ofsted said: "It is a strength of the Ofsted report that it is based on the independent inspection of nearly 18,000 schools and that the inspections were carried out without a pre-conceived ideology about class size. Most academic research seems to agree with the findings. Poor teaching doesn't disappear in smaller classes.

"There may be better ways of allocating resources, such as the use of classroom assistance and giving teachers more planning and preparation time."

Leading article, page 19