School Size Effects on Achievement in Secondary Education Evidence from the Netherlands, Sweden and the USA¹

Abstract

BSTRACTThis paper reports the results of an investigation into the relationship between school size and achievement. The study examined the impact of school size on mathematics achievement in Dutch, Swedish, and American secondary education and on science achievement in the Netherlands. The following research questions were explored: (1) Is school size related to achievement independently of student background characteristics, such as sex, achievement motivation, socioeconomic status, and cognitive aptitude? (2) Is the effect of school size related to any of the aforementioned background characteristics? (3) Does the effect of school size on achievement differ among the educational systems of the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States? and (4) Is the effect of school size the same for different measures of student achievement (mathematics versus science)? Datasets from two international studies sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement were analyzed--the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) and the Second International Science Study (SISS). The findings found little empiri.al evidence for the existence of school-size effects on achievement in any of the three countries, possibly because school size and curriculum comprehensiveness are not strongly related in these countries. Some useful additional information regarding the robustness of the detected relationships between the five covariates and student achievement is presented. Five tables are included. Contains 39 references. (LMI) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Netherlands. The analyses sought to provide an answer to the following questions:(1) Is school size related to achievement independently of student background characteristics such as sex, achievement motivation, socio-economic status and cognitive aptitude? (2) Is the effect of school size related to any of the aforementioned background characteristics? (3) Does the effect of school size on achievement differ between the educational systems of the Netherlands, Sweden and the USA? (4) Is the effect of school size the same for different measures of student achievement (mathematics versus science)? It was hypothesized that school size would be most strongly related to achievement in the USA. The analyses, however, revealed little empirical evidence for the existence of school size effects on achievement in any of the three countries, possibly because school size and curriculum comprehensiveness are not strongly related in these countries.Because the investigations involved the analysis of five separate datasets, the research outcomes revealed some useful additional information with respect to the robustness of the detected relationships between the five covariates and student achievement.

Examination of the Influence of Selected Factors on Performance on Alberta Learning Achievement Tests

“…For example, Rogers et al (1997) found that, at the school level, between 30 per cent and 40 per cent of the variability among mean levels of performance in language arts and mathematics was accounted for by average SES for the school (see also, Ho & Willms, 1996). In contrast, despite theoretical expectations, school size has not been found to influence consistently academic achievement (Griffiths, 1996;Luyten, 1994).…”

The Effect of School Resources on Pupil Attainment: a Multilevel Simultaneous Equation Modelling Approach

“…For size of school to be an adequate instrument it must not impact directly on pupil achievement. In the USA, a review by Cotton (1996) could find no evidence that the size of school has a direct effect on pupil attainment (see also studies such as Griffiths (1996) and Luyten (1994)), although there are some US studies that suggest that small or medium schools are more effective (Lee and Leob, 2000; Borland and Howsen, 1992). As argued by Borland and Howsen (1992), however, many US studies have failed to account for individual pupil ability.…”

Exploring Differential Effects of Mathematics Courses on Mathematics Achievement

“…Meanwhile, researchers have reached consensus that schools are differentially effective in teaching mathematics, as evidenced in the school effectiveness movement (see Teddlie & Reynolds, 2000). Among school characteristics influencing mathematics achievement, researchers have attended to school context and climate (e.g., Lee, 2000;Ma & Klinger, 2000) and school policies and practices (e.g., Lee, Croninger, & Smith, 1997;Luyten, 1994).…”