Indicator 21: Class Size

The number of students a teacher faces during a period of instructiontypically referred to as class sizeis a measure of pupil load. Average class size provides valuable information on students' learning environment. In the United States, small class sizes are valued because they increase opportunities for students to receive personalized attention from their teachers and reduce the burden on teachers often associated with managing large numbers of students. However, maintaining small class sizes is often more expensive than creating larger classes. Furthermore, large classes do not necessarily hinder instruction. The impact of class size on the overall learning environment is related to such factors as teaching style, student behavior, and the opportunity for students to meet with teachers outside of class. Because the indicator measures average class size, it does not reflect whether schools choose to have different-sized classes for different subjects or for different types of students. See Indicator 39 for details on a related topic, student/teacher ratio.

Sidebar: Class size in the United States and Japan

• In 1991, average class sizes for 13-year-old students were between 23 and 29 in all but three countriesKorea, Taiwan, and Japan. In these countries, class sizes were relatively large, 49, 44, and 36, respectively. The United States had an average class size of 23 students per class.

Figure 21: Average class size for 13-year-olds,1,2 by country: 1991

1/ Data refer to the modal grade of 13-year-olds in each country.

2/ Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

3/ 1985 data for lower-secondary-level education.

NOTE: See supplemental note to Indicator 21 for details on indicator calculation for Canada, Scotland, Spain, and the United States.

SOURCE: Educational Testing Service, The International Assessment of Educational Progress, Learning Mathematics (1992). For Japan, U.S. Department of Education, Japanese Education Today (Washington, D.C.: 1987) (data provided by Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture).

Notes on Figures and Tables

In some cases, countries limited assessments to particular geographic areas or language groups. A description of these limitations follows.

Canada, Scotland, Spain, and the United States

See supplemental notes for Indicator 8.

[Indicator 20]

[Indicator 22]