Intermediate and Secondary Class Sizes and Class Assignments in Wisconsin’s Public Schools

The number of students in each class in Wisconsin’s public schools is an important concern to all students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Most attention in recent years has been at the early elementary grades, where research has demonstrated that significant reductions in class sizes can have positive effects on student achievement. (1) There is some research to suggest that smaller classes also can have a similar effect on older students. However, this evidence is less conclusive. (2)

Research also shows that small school size (separate learning units from 300-400 students) provides secondary students with the support and structure needed to be successful. Smallness also appears to invite practices and arrangements that have been found to be effective (e.g., higher participation levels in school activities, less anonymity among students, etc.). For this reason, school size is a variable considered in this study.

Periodically, WEAC has collected information about issues related to intermediate and secondary level class sizes, including class assignments and the number of students that teachers evaluate (grade) during a semester or school year. The last study of this kind was done in 1992. Because there is a need to collect and maintain current data, class size and class assignment questionnaires were mailed to a random sample of 3,000 WEAC teacher members at the end of the 1997-98 school year. Completed questionnaires were returned by 1,558 people (52% return rate).

Significant Findings

• At the end of the 1997-98 school year, the typical teacher (excluding Exceptional Education Needs (EEN) teachers) met with five classes each day, had classes which consisted of 23 students, and evaluated (graded) approximately 110 students.

Other significant findings include the following:

• EEN teachers and teachers of computer science tend to evaluate the fewest number of students and have the smallest classes. Conversely, teachers of art, music, and physical education tend to evaluate the most students and have the largest classes.
• Teachers in small schools (with fewer than 400 students) tend to evaluate significantly fewer students than do teachers in larger schools. Their classes also tend to be significantly smaller.
• Slightly fewer than two-thirds of teachers (62%) teach the same subject or teach within the same subject or content area during the entire day (e.g., they teach U.S. history every hour or teach entirely within social studies). About one-third teach in two or more content areas. Teachers in small schools are more likely to teach in multiple content areas than are teachers in larger schools.
• The average teacher has approximately one unscheduled hour at school each day which can be used to plan lessons or grade papers. This same teacher spends six to ten hours outside of school each week in preparation for teaching.
• More than 40% of teachers report that over the last three years their class sizes have increased. Significant proportions of teachers also report that non-classroom locations are used for instruction.

A more detailed analysis of results follows.

Grade Levels Taught

Table 1 shows the grade levels taught by teachers who participated in this study. The total of grade levels taught (4,502) exceeds the number of teachers who returned questionnaires (1,558). This indicates that most intermediate and secondary level teachers instruct students across two or more grade levels.

Subject (Content) Areas Taught

Teachers were asked to choose from one of four “teaching situations.” Figure 1 shows that nearly two-thirds (62%) teach the same subject or teach in the same subject or content area for the entire day.

About one-fourth teach in more than one subject area, while two percent say they teach integrated studies. The remainder, 12%, say they are EEN teachers.

Figure 1

Teaching Specialization (3)

Most teachers teach different courses within the same content area (e.g., history and geography, English and speech, or chemistry and physics). However, some teachers teach across content areas, perhaps teaching courses in mathematics and social studies or English and science. (Wisconsin allows public school teachers to teach only in subjects for which they have a major or minor).

Table 2 shows the content areas taught by teachers who participated in this study. The right hand column shows the number of persons who teach in each of 13 content areas, ranging from art to technology. In the right hand column are the other content areas most likely to be taught.

For example, there are 91 teachers of physical education. Forty-two of these teachers also teach health-wellness, while five report teaching English/Language Arts and five say they teach mathematics. Of the the 13 content areas listed, music teachers tend to be the most specialized. Because we did not ask the question, we are not aware of whether or not teachers teaching in multiple subject areas have majors or minors in those fields.

Effect of School Size on Specialization

Teachers in small schools (400 or fewer students) are less likely to be specialized than are teachers in medium- or large-sized schools. In small schools, 52% of teachers teach in a single content or subject area. This compares with 58% and 78% of teachers in medium-, and large-sized schools, respectively. (4)

Number of Classes Taught

Nearly 96% of teachers who participated in this study report teaching different classes of students during the day. (5) On average, these teachers meet with five different classes (mean = 4.7, median = 5, mode = 5). (6)

Number of Students Evaluated (Graded) and Average Class Size

The typical teacher who participated in this study, and who is not classified as an EEN teacher, evaluated approximately 110 students during the second semester of last school year. The average class consists of 23 students. (7)

There is considerable variation in average class sizes across subject areas: art = 34, business education = 22, computer science = 21, English/language arts = 23, health/wellness = 27, home economics = 24, foreign language = 24, mathematics = 21, music = 35, physical education = 35, science = 22, social studies = 23, technology = 26, “other” = 22.

EEN teachers report that they evaluated approximately 20-25 students (mean = 25, median = 20). The number of students evaluated/graded for all content areas is shown in Table 4.

*These figures are only for teachers who say they meet with different classes of students during the day. These figures also exclude EEN teachers.

Number of Students Evaluated (Graded) and Class Sizes: Small, Medium, and Large Schools

There are significant differences in both class sizes and the number of students evaluated among teachers from small, medium, and large schools. (8) Teachers who work in small school buildings (400 or fewer students) have an average of 95 students (median = 94) to evaluate and have classes which average 20 students.

Teachers in medium- and large-sized buildings tend to evaluate approximately 20 more students and have class sizes which average 4-5 more students (see Table 5). (9)

* Excludes EEN teachers. Also, the figures are based only on teachers who say they meet with multiple groups of students during the day.

Daily Planning Time

The average teacher who participated in this study reports that he or she has approximately one hour each day to plan lessons, grade papers, and do related work. (10)

Preparation Outside the School

Teachers report spending between six and ten hours each week outside of school hours on school-related activities, such as preparing lessons, grading papers, completing reports, attending meetings, etc. The ranges of preparation are interesting. Nearly 12% of teachers report spending an hour or less each week. Conversely, 16% indicate they spend more than 10 hours each week (see Figure 2).

Figure 2
Number of Minutes Spent Outside of
School Hours Each Week on School-Related Activities

Meeting the Needs of Each Student

One-fourth of teachers say that in terms of meeting the individual needs of all students, they have “too many students.” A nearly equal proportion (27%) say they have “just about the right number,” while only 2% say they have too few students. The remainder (47%) say that in some classes they have too many students while in other classes they have about the right number.

Changes in Class Sizes

Forty-three percent of teachers report that over the last three years their class sizes have increased. A slightly larger percent (48%) say classes have “stayed about the same.” The remainder (9%) say class sizes have decreased.

Class Size Guidelines

Thirty-seven percent of teachers say that their district has guidelines for class sizes. A nearly equal proportion (35%) report that guidelines do not exist. Interestingly, 28% of teachers did not know if guidelines existed.

A follow-up question asked teachers to indicate the extent to which their district adheres to the class size guidelines. Whereas one-fourth of teachers say their district always follows the guidelines, 40% answered “never.” The remainder, 35%, said their district “sometimes” follows the class size policies which have been set.

Use of Non-Classroom Space for Instruction

Teachers also were asked to indicate the use of non-classroom spaces for instruction. The greatest percent of respondents (22%) indicate that the school’s cafeteria is used for instruction. The percent of teachers saying other spaces are used for instruction are listed below.

• Portable classrooms (14%)
• Hallways or storage areas (16%)
• Cafeteria (22%)
• Stage area (13%)
• Other places not designed as classroom space (17%)

Concluding Remarks

An investigation of class size and class assignments makes it apparent that these are concepts which can not be summarized in a few words or even paragraphs. The use of summary statistics (such as mean or median values) to describe class sizes or the number of students evaluated each semester obscures the variation which is found across subject areas and school districts.

For example, this study found that the typical intermediate and secondary level teacher in Wisconsin met with 110 students during the second semester of the 1997-98 school year and had classes consisting of approximately 23 students. Although these figures seem very reasonable, it needs to be kept in mind that nearly one-third of teachers said they evaluated 125 or more students at the end of the 97-98 school year and had classes of approximately 27 students.

Analysis of specific subject areas shows a similar pattern. The average English/language arts teacher evaluated 107 students at the end of last school year. Yet, 6.2% of English/language arts teachers report that they met with 150 or more students during this same period. Likewise, the average social studies teacher met with 115 students, whereas nearly 10% were responsible for 150 or more students. It hardly needs to be emphasized that it is extremely difficult to give individual attention to all students when the numbers are so excessive.

Likewise, the number of students assigned to teachers and related class sizes were shown to vary considerably across subject areas. Teachers of art, music, and physical education tend meet with the most students on a daily or weekly basis and also are likely to have the largest classes (about 35 students per class). In contrast, EEN teachers tend to meet with far fewer students and have smaller class sizes.

Perhaps the more interesting finding of this study is the relationship between school size and the number of students evaluated and class sizes. In general, it was shown that teachers in schools with 400 or fewer students evaluate significantly fewer students and have smaller class sizes than do teachers in larger school buildings.

There is no way of knowing from this study the extent to which students benefit from attending smaller schools (which, in this study, have been shown also to have smaller classes). However, research on small schools has identified significant benefits of having fewer students in a school building. Academic achievement in small schools is at least equal to, and often superior to, that of larger schools. In addition, student social behavior is more positive, levels of extracurricular participation are much higher, student attendance is better, and the student dropout rate is lower. Finally, interpersonal relations among students, teachers, and administrators are more positive in small schools than in larger schools. (11)

(1) See Mosteller, Frederick. “The Tennessee Study of Class Size in the Early School Grades.” The Future of Children 5 (Summer/Fall 1995): 113-127.

(2) Research by Harold Wenglinsky at Educational Testing Service showed that reduced class sizes at the eighth grade level improve the social environment, which leads to fewer problems and improved student achievement (Wenglinsky, Harold. When Money Matters. Princeton, New Jersey: Educational Testing Service, 1997).

(3) Specialization is defined as teaching all classes within the same content or subject area.

(4) The mean number of content areas taught by each teacher ranges from 2.0 in small schools to 1.8 in medium-sized schools (401-999), and 1.5 in large schools (1,000 or more students). These differences are significant at the .000 level or greater (ANOVA: F=16.5, Significance = .000).

(5) Three percent say they meet with the same class of students during the entire day, while 2% say they team teach, work in a resource center for part of the day, etc. These figures exclude EEN teachers.

(6) The mean is the arithmetic average, while the median is the middle score in a set of ranked scores. The mode is the most frequently reported value.

(7) The figure of 23 is based on all teachers, except those who are EEN. Class size was determined as follows: Students Evaluated/Number of Classes = Class size (110/4.7 = 23.4).

(8) The differences in the number of students evaluated among the three school sizes (small, medium, and large) were significant at the .000 level (ANOVA, F = 11.8, Significance=.000).

(9) Regardless of school size or subject taught, teachers who meet with multiple groups of students each day tend to have five class assignments (mean = 5.0, mean = 4.7).

(10) Mean = 64 minutes, median = 50 minutes.

(11) See Cotton, Kathleen. “School Size, School Climate, and Student Performance.” Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 1996, and Raywid, Mary Anne. “Small Schools: A Reform that Works.” Educational Leadership ((January 1998): 34-39.

Posted November 13, 1998