Researchers and reformers have suggested that school climate is an important aspect of effective schools (Hoy & Hannum, 1997, p. 290). Literature also suggests that effective schools have a positive school climate (Chrispeels, 1990). The purpose of this study is to determine if the climate of schools affects the student achievement in school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The construct study conducted herein relies exclusively upon data collected by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and reported in the Discipline, Crime and Violence Incidents annual report (DCVI), the Free and Reduced Lunch report, and the Truancy report to form a climate index (CI). A Hierarchical Cluster analysis was used to determine relationships between school division climate, as measured by the CI, and student achievement, as measured by the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) Tests, in school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Based on the CI, there is a relationship between school division climate and student achievement in English/reading, mathematics, history/social science, and science in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Moreover, incidents of disorderly conduct combined with the number of students who receive free and reduced lunch are the best predictors of student achievement. / Ed. D.

The purposes of the study were: to determine the relationship between class size and academic achievement among university students in first-semester calculus classes, and to compare opinions about the instructor, course, and classroom learning environment of university students in small first-semester calculus classes with those in large classes. The sample consisted of 225 university students distributed among two large and two small sections of first-semester calculus classes taught at the University of Texas at Arlington during the fall of 1987. Each of two tenured faculty members taught a large and small section of approximately 85 and 27 students, respectively. During the first week of the semester, scores from the Calculus Readiness Test (CR) were obtained from the sample and used as the covariate in each analysis of covariance of four periodic tests, a comprehensive final examination, and final grade average. The CR scores were also used in a logistic regression analysis of attrition rates between each pair of large and small sections of first-semester calculus. Three semantic differentials were used to test the hypotheses relating to student opinion of the instructor, course, and classroom learning environment. It was found that for both pairs of large and small first-semester calculus classes there was no significant difference in the adjusted means for each of the four periodic tests, the final examination scores, the final grade averages, and the attrition rates. It was also found that the means of the student evaluation of the course by students in small and large classes were not significantly different, and the results of the student evaluations of the instructor and classroom learning environment by students in small and large first—semester calculus classes were mixed.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Education

Class size has long been recognized as a factor affecting achievement in face-to-face contexts. However, few studies have examined the effects of class size in online courses, or the effects of dividing an online class into smaller discussion groups. The current study examined the relationship between class size and the use of grouping strategies on note reading, note writing, and collaborative discussions in online graduate-level courses. This mixed-methods study analyzed tracking logs from 25 graduate-level online courses using Web Knowledge Forum (25 instructors and 341 students) and interviews from 10 instructors and 12 graduate students with diverse backgrounds. The quantitative and qualitative data analyses were designed to complement each other. Findings suggested 13 to 15 as an optimal class size and four to five as an ideal subgroup size. Not surprisingly, the results revealed that, as class size increased, the total notes that participants read increased significantly. However, as class size increased, the percentage of course notes that students read decreased significantly (i.e., students were reading a smaller proportion of the course notes). In larger classes, participants were more likely to experience information overload and students were more selective in the notes that they read. A significant positive correlation was found between class size and total notes written. Students’ note size and grade-level score were negatively correlated with class size. The data also suggest that the overload effects of large classes can be minimized by dividing students into small groups for discussion purposes. Interviewees felt that the use of small groups in large classes benefited their collaborative discussions. The preceding results underscore the importance of using small discussion groups when class sizes are large. The research concludes with a list of pedagogical recommendations and suggests new software features that may help enhance learning in online courses.

This was a multi-faceted mixed methods study that investigated several aspects associated to class size and the perceived effects on student achievement in Title I elementary schools. The data collection in this study was conducted through two separate phases. The first qualitative phase was a case study that was comprised of teacher interviews and classroom observations. The case study took place at a Title I school in Central Virginia, chosen for its diverse representativeness of the student population. Classroom interactions were coded during five-minute segments in each full-day classroom observation, as well as field notes made for specific types of instructional methods being used within each Title I classroom: individualized instruction, small group instruction, connecting personally with students, and incorporating technology into daily instruction. While a majority of the interactions within each classroom were positive, patterns emerged within the negative interactions that occurred. Interview responses indicated that the perceived ideal class size for Title I schools is 12-18 students, as well as provided explanations behind the perceived effects of class size on student achievement. Findings from the first phase were used to create a survey that was distributed during the second qualitative phase of this study. This survey was distributed to the larger Title I teacher population within the same school district to generalize the findings from the case study. Finally, systematic student assessment data was collected to compare the perceived effects of class size to the observed effects of class size on student achievement data. Although the findings from the student achievement data were inconclusive, there were several factors associated to class size that are discussed to explain the observed effects on student achievement data in the case study Title I school.

Sammanfattning En lägre grad av upplevd trivsel vid universitet är ett relativt vanligt fenomen bland studenter, som kopplas till bland annat psykisk ohälsa, stress och dåliga betyg. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att belysa studietrivseln bland olika klasstorlekskategorigrupper som uppger sig att vara i genomsnitt extroverta. Frågeställningar relevanta för att besvara syftet var: Finns det en skillnad i genomsnittligt självskattad studietrivsel mellan olika klasstorlekskategorier? Går det att predicera studietrivsel beroende på antalet studiekamrater en student läser tillsammans med? Finns det en korrelation mellan studietrivsel och till vilken grad individen har ett stort socialt nätverk? Finns det ett positivt samband mellan personlighetsdraget extraversion och storleken på det sociala nätverket? I studien användes en webb-enkät som deltagarna fick besvara via en länk på Facebook. I studien deltog 100 deltagare, varav 66 kvinnor, 32 män och 2 "icke-binär".  Enkäten bestod av fyra delar med fyra olika mätinstrument – självskattad studietillfredställelse/studietrivsel påståenden användes för att mäta deltagarens upplevda trivsel med sin studiesituation, Socialt nätverk (AVSI - Availability of Social Integration Questionnaire) användes för att mäta antalet studiekamrater i klassen som deltagaren kände sig ha socialt stöd ifrån i klassen, och Extraversionsskalan ifrån (TIPI- The Ten Item Personality Inventory) användes för att mäta deltagarens grad av personlighetsdraget extraversion. Resultatet visade att studiens stickprov i högre grad hade personlighetsdraget extraversion. En ANOVA för oberoende mätningar indikerade att det fanns en signifikant skillnad i självskattad studietrivsel mellan klasstorlekarna. Korrelationsanalys indikerade att det fanns en koppling mellan studietrivsel och socialt nätverk. Regressionsanalys visade att klasstorlek var prediktor för studietrivsel. Endast 7,3 % av variansen i studietrivsel kunde förklaras av variansen av prediktor-variabeln klasstorlek, vilket är lite. Studiens resultat indikerar att studenter trivs mer i somliga klasstorlekar än i andra. / Abstract A lower degree of experienced satisfaction is a common phenomenon among university students and is associated with negative outcomes like mental problems, stress and poor grades. The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported study satisfaction amongst students in different class size categories, which in average reports themselves as extrovert, at different universities across Sweden. The four questions that this study intended to answer were: Is there a difference between students' average study satisfaction depending on the class size? Can study satisfaction be predicted depending on class size? Is there a correlation between study satisfaction and the number of friends that the student perceives he or she have in the class? And is there a positive correlation between the personality trait extraversion and the number of friends that the student perceives he or she have in his/hers social network? The study was a quantitative web -survey that participants answered via Facebook. The study involved 100 participants, 66 women and 32 men and 2 "non-binary". The survey was composed of three parts consisting of three separate measuring instruments – Study satisfaction Questionnaire was used to measure the participants’ sense of study satisfaction, Availability of Social Integration Questionnaire (AVSI) measured the participants’ quantity of classmates in the class and Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) was used to estimate the personality trait extraversion.   The results show a correlation between the personality trait extraversion and social network. The regression showed that class size is a predictor for study satisfaction for students. Only 7,3 % of the variance in study satisfaction could be explained by the variance of the variable class size, which is not much.  The study's results show that in some class sizes students feel more study satisfaction then in others.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate classroom interaction. Of central importance are the following questions; Does gender of pupil, gender of teacher, age of pupils, subject taught and class size have any importance for the classroom interaction? What conceptions of interaction with pupils do teachers have? Data have been collected by two different methods – structured classroom observations and focus groups. The results from the observations study disclose that the gender of the teacher as well as the gender of the pupil has an impact on classroom interaction. The interaction also differs regarding the pupil’s age. The variables pupil gender, teacher gender and pupil’s age together gives an opposite pattern of interaction. Female teachers interact to the same extent with boys and girls when they are young (lower level). When pupils grow older (inter­mediate and upper levels) they interact more with boys than girls. The pattern of interaction for male teachers goes in the opposite direction. When the pupils are young, they interact more with boys compared to girls. The same pattern is true at the intermediate level. At the upper level male teachers interact to the same extent with boys and girls. School subject and class size proved to have a limited impact on classroom interaction. Through categorization of data collected in focus groups, eight different themes were identified. These describe teachers’ conceptions of their interaction with pupils. The themes were large classes, catch individual pupils, boys dominate the classroom on expense of girls, pupils’ needs of interaction with adults, the joy of interacting with pupils, do we use the same language, conflicts between pupils, and to meet pupils with another cultural background. The results from the observations and the focus groups have shown, to some extent different but all-important aspects of classroom interaction. In this thesis two phenomena or questions have been of central importance – gender differences and class size.

Syftet med denna uppsats var att ta reda på elevers och pedagogers erfarenheter och föreställningar kring klasstorlekens betydelse i arbetet med att skapa goda förutsättningar för lärande i grundskolans tidigare år. Detta gjorde jag genom kvalitativa intervjuer. Jag genomförde en gruppintervju med 3 pedagoger som alla är klasslärare i grundskolans tidigare år, samt 3 gruppintervjuer med elever från årskurs 2-4. Mitt resultat visar att eleverna och pedagogerna anser att gränsen för en liten/stor klass går vid tjugo elever, vilket alla tre involverade klasser överstiger. Det blir också tydligt att det är övervägande negativt att gå i en stor klass när det handlar om förutsättningar för lärande. Till största del så handlar det om pedagogers oförmåga att hinna med varje elev och elevers saknad av hjälp från pedagogen. Slutsatsen, dragen från resultatet och den litteratur jag tagit del utav, blir att lärandet skulle förbättras om elevantalet i en klass minskade. Detta både ur ett elev- och pedagogperspektiv. Eleverna säger bland annat att de koncentrerar sig bättre när de är färre elever i klassrummet och att de då dessutom får mer hjälp utav pedagogen, medan pedagogerna berättar hur de saknar tid att ägna åt varje elev under en skoldag. / The purpose of this study was to determine students' and educators' experiences and conceptions regarding the class size significance in the efforts to create good conditions for learning in the early primary school. I did this through qualitative interviews. I conducted a group interview with three teachers, all class teachers in primary education, and three group interviews with students from grades 2-4. Lyssna Läs fonetiskt   Ordbok - Visa detaljerad ordbok My results show that students and educators believe that the limit for a small / large class goes at twenty students, which all three involved classes exceed. It also becomes obvious that it is negative being apart of a large class when it comes to opportunities for learning. For the most part, it refers to educators' inability to keep up with each student and students' loss of support from the educator. The conclusion, drawn from the results and the literature I´ve read, is that learning would improve if the number of pupils in a class decreased. This is both a student and educator perspective. Students say, among other things, that they concentrate better when they are fewer students in the classroom and that they also get more help of the educator, while educators tell how they don´t have enough time to devote to each student during a school day.

This study focused on the relationship between classroom interaction and small class teaching in a Hong Kong secondary school, an issue which has long been recognized in a range of international and local studies. The observation of one teacher teaching two S.1 classes of different class size (n=34 and n=23) and another teacher teaching two S.7 classes of different class size (n=23 and n=12) over a period of time has revealed key differences between teaching and learning in large and small classes. This study draws on both quantitative and qualitative data. The study includes a pilot case study which comprised of three-hour lesson observations in each of the two S.1 (grade 7) classrooms, an action research study which consisted of 20-hour lesson observations in each of my two S.7 classes (grade 13), interview with the S.1 (grade 7) teacher participant and a total of 15 students, writing from my S.7 students, and my own teacher journal reflections from my S.7 classes. Findings from both the case study and the action research reveal that students in the small classes have more opportunities for participation and classroom interaction after they were offered more group work, discussion, scaffolding and open-ended questions. It was found that small classes were more conducive to the fostering of dialogic teaching as well as the formation of communities of practice. Implications for pedagogy and further research are included. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

The purpose of this study was to determine if the student-to-administrator ratio in a school was related to student achievement as well as to examine the duties a principal delegated to others to determine if a pattern existed between principals of high and low performing high schools in regard to duties kept versus duties delegated. While the results of this study did not find one overall recommendation for a student-to-administrator ratio, it did determine that there are certain duties principals of high achieving schools did not delegate as compared to principals of schools with lower achievement. This study also produced a comprehensive description of the 51 duties of a high school principal and provides a recommendation for which duties may be most valuable for the principal to keep and which duties could be delegated to other personnel. / Department of Educational Leadership