INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL TYPE AND CLASS SIZE ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN MATHEMATICS

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to analyze the influence of school type and class size on students achievement in mathematics, the majority of which have focused on secondary schools in Nigeria. While the general finding is that smaller classes are associated with increased student achievement, a few high-quality studies find no relationship. Further, empirical research on the costs and benefits of smaller classes concludes that other education policies, such as tutoring, early childhood programs, or improving teacher quality would be better investments in the cause of this research, adequate data were collected using the primary instrument questionnaire and personal interview, this data were analyze and interpretation, summary, conclusion and recommendation were made.

 

CHAPTER ONE

• Introduction

Before analyzing the impact of class size it is pertinent to evaluate the influence on the type of school, the big question is, is the school a public school or a private school, if it is private what categories does the school falls into? If it is public how efficient and effective is the teachers and the administration? Further more if it is private does the exorbitant fee meets with the academic requirement and expectations of the parents. Once this is ascertained then the issue question of what constitute an adequate class size is tackled.

As school population increases class sizes also increase, the performances of students become an issue. According to Dror (1995), class size has become a phenomenon often mentioned in the educational literature as an influence on students feelings and achievement, on administration, quality and school budgets. In his words he noted, that class size is almost an administrative decision over which teachers have little or no control. Most researchers start from the assumption that size of the class would prove a significant determinant of the degree of success of students. In fact, with the exception of a few, many studies have reported that under ideal situation, class size in itself appears to be an important factor. The first issue that calls for immediate clarification is what number of students should constitute a large group and what should be described as a small group? In describing a small group, Bray (1990) observed that they have few teachers with small pools of talent; offer limited range of subjects and characteristically finding it hard to justify costly investment on libraries, their pupils lack competition and interest with relatively few students as they get stucked with same teacher for an entire school career.

The description appears to be an anti-type of what obtains in large group. Large school or class size on the other hand are often impersonal, having broader curricula with teachers being given wider support, while students may suffer discipline problems as teachers cannot get to know their students very easily. They find it easy to stream students according to ability while commitment to work may stand a test of time. In terms of numerical strength, the National Policy on Education (1977 revised in 1981) specified 20 in pre-primary, 30 in primary and maximum of 40 in secondary schools. These directives appear unrealistic in urban areas as a result of high population. From studies conducted, the size of large classes range from 30-336 and small from 8-45 (Kolo, 1991). The empirical literature on class size and its relationship to academic achievement in mathematics has been unwieldy and confusing. According to Jordan (1964), in his analysis of the inter-relationship of intelligence, achievement and socio-economic status of high schools, concluded that School Location among other variables was directly related to mean achievement level of students in the sampled subject. However, the report by some researchers on elementary school pupils revealed that the size of school and length of attendance have little or no effect upon pupils’ achievement when educational opportunities are comparable. In his conclusion, he asserted that teachers generally, have definite preference for the size of schools in which they wish to teach and that the larger the size, the lower the level of students’ achievement will tend to be. The observation which agrees with the findings of Sitkei (1968) and Walberg (1969) that a significant and consistent relationship exist in the achievement of students in small classes of about 1-20 pupils that obtained higher scores in science tests than their counterparts in large classes are necessary for student achievement. Expressing a divergent view, Silver as cited by Bolton (1988) found that there was no significant difference in post test achievement scores between large classes and small classes control groups; he concluded that larger is sometimes better. Earlier, Keeves (1978) acceded that type of school did not make a contribution to academic achievement, however, Carpenter and Western (1984) found that school type makes a difference in students academic achievement. Hatis and Spay citing Smith and Glass and Glass et al as a corollary to the above statement indicated through meta-analyses that, compare to larger classes, small classes lead to higher pupils achievement, more favourable teacher effects (e.g morale, attitude towards students) greater attempts in individualized instruction, a better classroom climate and more favorable student effects (e.g self concept, participation). In another development, Finn and Achilles (1990) observed in a longitudinal analysis of a portion of their large scale experiment (describing Kindergarten and teachers) that students in small classes out-perform their peers in kindergarten classes of regular siz (regular class size here means large classes). According to a study conducted in United States, Campbell (1980) remarked that students from large schools were exposed to large number of school activities and the best of them achieved standards that were unequaled by students in small schools. However, he observed that students in small schools participated in more activities, (both academics and extra- curricular activities). The study concluded that the versatility and performance of pupils in small schools were consistently higher. The assertion made by Campbell appears confusing as he failed to pin-point the one that is more reliable. In his contribution, Ornstein (1990) discovered that in a 10-year study of high schools in Illinois, the lowest achievement on three separate standard tests occurred in schools with fewer than 495 students. The highest achievement, however, was found in schools with 495 to 1,280 students. The situation was slightly different from this in Ekiti State where schools with fewer students recorded better results, than schools with larger students’ population (Owoeye, 1991) factors such as socio-economic status and geographical location were accounted for but these were eliminated as possible explanations. Similar view had earlier been expressed by George (1958) when he reported in his research on high school class rank and academic performance that graduate from high school seem to perform better academically in college when the high school from which the student graduated has a large graduating class. Edge (1980) identifies two problems that are posed by large class teaching; (a) the provision of an opportunity for discussion or for any kind of oral input to the written work is difficult…and; (b) the amount of marking involved can dissuade even the most enthusiastic teacher from setting the amount of written work that he feels would benefit the students. In another development, a comprehensive study conducted by Glass and Smith (1979) on the relationship between class size and achievement gathered 80 studies, read and separated their results to meta-analysis procedures. He concluded from the results he obtained that reduced class size and greater pupil achievement are related. Researchers using meta analysis to integrate research findings of Glass and Smith meta-analytical techniques to describe relationship between class size and academic achievement or classroom processes, their analyses never suggested substantial changes in conclusions originally drawn in Glass and Smith (1979) and Smith and Glass (1980). Similarly, Tupen cited in Onocha (1985) reported that the possession of larger and better equipped laboratories, libraries and opportunity for collaboration between two or more teachers may be some of the major reasons accounting for the variance in achievement between large and small schools. This statement has only established that differences exist between large and small schools without actualizing the particular one. The encyclopedia research on class size opined that whether the benefits of reducing class size are regarded as worth their cost or a second choice in improving education depends almost entirely on how the outcomes of pupil achievement, pupil’s attitude and teacher’s satisfaction are weighed in arriving at a general measure of utility. Clearly, different groups of individuals weigh these factors differently. Most tax-payers are likely to minimize considerations of teacher satisfaction and argue that class size reductions are not worth the price.

• STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The influence of school type and class size in student academic achievement in mathematics is a major challenge to in modern days this is because the dismal performance of student in mathematics of lately cannot be pinpoint to school type and class size. Which therefore forced the researcher to question the influence and impact of class size and school type on students academic performance with emphasis on the subject mathematics

• OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objective of this study is to ascertain the influence of class size and school type on the academic performance of students in mathematics. However, the study seek to achieve the following objective:

1. The influence of school on student performance in mathematics
2. The role that the school types plays in students academic performance

• The influence of class size on the academic participation of students

1. The role of students teacher relationship on students academic achievement.

 

 

• RESEARCH QUESTION

For the successful completion of this studies, the following research question were formulated:

1. What is the influence of school type on students academic achievement?
2. What role does the size of class plays in students academic performance?

• Does class size determine teachers student relationship?

1. Does students teachers relationship has a role to play on students academic performance?
   • SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is conceived that at the conclusion of the study, the findings will be beneficial to the student on their choice of school, and to the parent who decide the school that their ward goes to.

The studies will be of benefit to the management of these schools weather private or public in determining the class size in other to be able to access the performance of this students. The studies will also be of benefit to academia, students, teachers, researchers and the general public.

• SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the studies covers the influence of school type and class size on students achievement in mathematics. However, the studies have some limitation which are:

1. AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL:

The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study

1. b) TIME:

The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance   wider coverage as the researcher have to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

1. FINANCE: The finance available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to cover
2. 7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

SCHOOL

A school is an institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students (or “pupils”) under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory.^{[citation needed]} In these systems, students progress through a series of schools. The names for these schools vary by country (discussed in the Regional section below) but generally include primary school for young children and secondary school for teenagers who have completed primary education. An institution where higher education is taught, is commonly called a university college or university.

CLASS SIZE

Class size refers to the number of students in a given course or classroom, specifically either the number of students being taught by individual teachers in a course or classroom or the average number of students being taught by teachers in a school, district, or education system. The term may also extend to the number of students participating in learning experiences that may not take place in a traditional classroom setting, or it may also refer to the total number of students in a particular grade level or “class” in a school (although this usage is less common in public education).

• ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study its based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.

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