The Alberta Teachers’ Association

The Research Behind Class Size And Kindergarten

Thousands of Albertans have already signed the pledge for public education, and in doing so affirmed their support for small class sizes, fully-funded junior kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs, supports for students with exceptionalities, and access for all students to a teacher certificated school counsellor in their school. Behind this pledge sits a solid body of important research that frames the rationale for supporting these directions so that we can keep our education system world class and support each and every one of our Alberta children and youth as they begin their formal schooling and then move towards high school graduation.

To provide a glimpse into the body of research underpinning this pledge, what follows are brief summaries of the academic literature that supports the common-sense directions for two of the pledges: keeping class size small and promoting junior kindergarten and full-day kindergarten programs. These research briefs also are available on the Association website—under Education Research—with more sources for further reading and key strategic considerations.

Research On Class Size

Research shows that smaller class sizes allow for higher levels of student engagement, increased time with the curriculum, and more opportunities for teachers to focus on the individual needs and interests of students in the classroom. It also illustrates that class size is indeed an important determinant of student outcomes, ranging from test scores to broader life outcomes.

Four key recommendations have emerged from a comprehensive review of major class size research by Diane Schanzenbach (2014):

1. “Class size is an important determinant of student outcomes, and one that can be directly determined by policy. All else being equal, increasing class sizes will harm student outcomes.”
2. “The evidence suggests that increasing class size will harm not only children’s test scores in the short run, but also their long-run human capital formation. Money saved today by increasing class sizes will result in more substantial social and educational costs in the future.”
3. “The payoff from class-size reduction is greater for low-income and minority children, while any increases in class size will likely be most harmful to these populations.”
4. “Policymakers should carefully weigh the efficacy of class-size policy against other potential uses of funds. While lower class size has a demonstrable cost, it may prove the more cost-effective policy overall.”

In 2003 the Alberta Commission on Learning (ACOL) made significant policy recommendations regarding class size: kindergarten through Grade 3 should, on average, be 17 students or less; Grades 4 through 6 should have 23 students or less; Grades 7 through 9 should have 25 students or less; and high school should have 27 students or less.

Alberta class size data from 2018, released by the Department of Education, clearly shows that the education system in Alberta has failed to achieve those targets. In Alberta in 2017–18, 80.39% of division one (kindergarten through Grade 3) are larger than their ACOL targets. On average division one classes are 29.41% over their target, with the effects especially pronounced in large urban boards.

Research On Junior And Full-Day Kindergarten

In terms of the research on the efficacy of full-day kindergarten (FDK), a growing body of research shows that in the short term, the positive effects of FDK include gains in socio-emotional growth, enhanced linguistic and academic progress, better attendance and stronger skills in mathematical literacy as children progress into Grade 1.

Heagle, et al. (2017, 979) pointed out that “for many children, the kindergarten years form a bridge from the free-play settings of early childhood education to the academic rigours of the grade one classroom.” This implies that, while it may be tempting for policymakers to increase the amount of academic content taught in FDK, this could be to the detriment of the development of the whole child and, therefore, their academic progress.

It becomes more difficult to ascertain whether FDK continues to hold advantageous results for students after the early grades. Longitudinal studies have been conducted on this question, but the results are mixed.

In Alberta, the 2003 Alberta Commission on Learning (ACOL) recommended that FDK be implemented by Alberta school boards. While the Alberta government accepted this recommendation, it has never been fully implemented due to a lack of funding. The findings of the 2014 Alberta Early Childhood Development (ECD) Mapping Project help illustrate why the ACOL recommendations should be fully implemented.

The ECD Mapping Project was a large-scale study, with more than 70,000 Alberta kindergarten students being assessed using the early development instrument (EDI). EDI measures five dimensions of childhood development: (1) physical health and well-being, (2) social components, (3) emotional maturity, (4) language and cognitive development, and (5) communication skills and general knowledge. The findings of this study are sobering. The “most striking result is that 46.4 per cent—less than half—of kindergarten children are developing appropriately in all five areas of development” (Alberta Government/ECD Mapping Project 2014, 9).

Furthermore, Alberta kindergarten children, when compared to other Canadian kindergarten children, lag behind and experience higher levels of greater difficulty in one or more of the five dimensions of development. The ECD Mapping Project findings make it clear that early intervention and additional supports for all children and families are sorely needed.

References

Alberta’s Commission on Learning (ACOL). 2003. Every Child Learns, Every Child Succeeds: Report and Recommendations. Edmonton, Alta: Alberta Learning. Alberta Education website. https://education.alberta.ca/media/1626474/commissionreport.pdf (accessed November 5, 2018).

Alberta Government/Early Child Development Mapping Project. 2014. How Are our Young Children Doing? Final Report of the Early Child Development Mapping Project (ECMap). Alberta Education website. http://ecmap.ca/images/ECMap_Reports/ECMap_Final_Report_20141118.pdf (accessed November 5, 2018).

Clark, P., E. Kirk and K. Glascott Burriss. 2000. “All-day Kindergarten.” Childhood Education 76, no 4: 228–231.

Da Costa, J. 2005. “Full-day Kindergarten.” International Journal of Learning 12, no 6: 15–36.

Heagle, K., K. Timmons, F. Hargreaves and J. Pelletier. 2017. “The Social Kindergartener: Comparing Children’s Perspectives of Full- and Half-day Kindergarten.” Early Child Development and Care 187, no 5–6: 978–989.

National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. 2007. The Science of Early Childhood Development: Closing the Gap Between What We Know and What We Do. Harvard University website. https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/the-science-of-early-childhood-development-closing-the-gap-between-what-we-know-and-what-we-do/ (accessed November 5, 2018).

Reynolds, A. J., B. A. Richardson, M. Hayakawa, E. M. Lease, M. Warner-Richter, M. M. Englund, S. Ou and M. Sullivan. 2014. “Association of Full-day vs Part-day Preschool Intervention with School Readiness, Attendance, and Parent Involvement.” Journal of the American Medical Association 312, no 20: 2126–2134.

Schanzenbach, D. W. 2014. Does Class Size Matter? National Education Policy Center, University of Colorado. University of Colorado website. http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/does-class-size-matter (accessed November 5, 2018).

Dr. Phil McRae is the associate coordinator of research for the Alberta Teachers’ Association.