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Average class size in private schools, by school level, class type, and selected school characteristics: 2017–18

  Elementary schools   Secondary schools   Combined schools  
Selected school characteristic Average class size for teachers in self-contained classes   Average class size for teachers in departmentalized instruction   Average class size for teachers in self-contained classes   Average class size for teachers in departmentalized instruction   Average class size for teachers in self-contained classes   Average class size for teachers in departmentalized instruction  
   All private schools 16.7   17.6   17.8   17.7   ‡   ‡  
                         
School classification                        
Catholic 18.4   19.6   21.3   20.2   ‡   ‡  
Other religious ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡  
Nonsectarian ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡  
                         
Community type                        
City 17.7   19.5   19.3   18.8   ‡   ‡  
Suburban 17.6   17.0   18.9   17.5   ‡   ‡  
Town 14.8   16.4   11.9   15.5   ‡   ‡  
Rural 12.2   13.0   14.7   14.7   ‡   ‡  
                         
Student enrollment                        
Less than 100 ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡  
100–199 16.4   16.0   17.6   14.7   ‡   ‡  
200–499 19.8   20.5   19.5   17.2   ‡   ‡  
500–749 23.0   23.2   19.7   19.6   ‡   ‡  
750 or more ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡   ‡  
‡ Reporting standards not met. The response rate is below 50 percent.
NOTE: Self-contained classes are defined as instruction to the same group of students all or most of the day in multiple subjects, and departmentalized instruction is defined as instruction to several classes of different students most or all of the day in one or more subjects. Among all private school teachers, 16 percent teach self-contained classes in elementary schools, 3 percent in secondary schools, and 9 percent in combined schools; 12 percent teach departmentalized classes in elementary schools, 19 percent in secondary schools, and 23 percent in combined schools; 10 percent teach other types of classes, such as elementary subject specialist classes, team-taught classes, and "pull-out" or "push-in" classes in elementary schools, 3 percent in middle schools, and 6 percent in combined schools.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), “Private School Teacher Data File,” 2017–18.

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