The issue of class size is a complex and contested topic that has divided opinion for many years. Whilst many teachers believe that smaller class sizes assist in enhancing outcomes, a number of policy influencers, policy makers and researchers argue that it has little influence on success in learning and that decreasing class sizes is not…

Decreasing class sizes, even by as little as one student, comes with a price tag. It is possible to "pay" for this increase by compensating with one of the other factors influencing the salary cost of teachers: lower teachers' salaries, less required instruction time for students or more teaching time for teachers. Across OECD countries…

We present the findings of a pilot plan of active learning implemented in introductory physics in a Chilean public university. The model is research based as it considered a literature review for adequate selection and design of activities consistent with the levels of students' reasoning skills. The level of scientific reasoning is positively…

Despite widely acknowledged benefits of integrating writing into economics courses, instructors' costs are often prohibitive. To reduce costs and make writing assignments more feasible, the authors describe multi-part, scaffolded writing assignments developed by an economist and a WAC (Writing Across the Curriculum) specialist, integrated into an…

In this paper, the authors begin by classifying the arguments that assert American schools are relatively inefficient into two categories: the "long-term trend argument" and the "international comparison argument." Their focus herein is on the latter of these two. They then describe two frameworks for approaching either of…

The "Action Lecture" program is an innovative teaching method run in some nursery and primary schools in Paris and designed to improve pupils' literacy. We report the results of an evaluation of this program. We describe the experimental protocol that was built to estimate the program's impact on several types of indicators. Data were…

The challenging of assessing formal and informal online learning at scale includes various issues. Many universities who are now promoting "Massive Online Open Courses" (MOOC), for instance, focus on relatively informal assessment of participant competence, which is not highly "quality assured". This paper reports best…

Do prospective students get the information they need to assess what can be gained from attending a particular higher education institution? Professor Gibbs' highly influential 2010 report, "Dimensions of Quality", found that student outcomes can be affected by the way that institutions choose to use available resources; class size, the…

For millions of children worldwide the only type of schooling to which they will gain access will be in small schools. Economically and socially disadvantaged areas support disproportionate numbers of these schools. Although small schools have many advantages, they also face myriad problems. This policy brief explores the existing international…

"Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators" is the authoritative source for accurate and relevant information on the state of education around the world. It provides data on the structure, finances, and performance of education systems in the OECD's 34 member countries, as well as a number of partner countries. In the 2014 edition, new…

This monograph reviews literature on school and class size for its relevance to the concerns of CREATE [Consortium for Research on Educational Access, Transitions and Equity]. It estimates the numbers of small schools and numbers of children learning in small schools worldwide. It assesses the implications of school size, large and small, for…

Six major topics in the recent literature on class size concern the relation of class size to: (1) children's achievement; (2) other child variables, such as pupils' attitudes and behavior; (3) teacher variables, such as satisfaction and stress; (4) organization and instruction; (5) cost-effectiveness; and (6) the unique characteristics of small…

The study examined the phenomenon of repeaters as a part of wastage via a review of the literature on the subject and a 5-year study (1977-81) of primary schools in Ciskei. The literature revealed that the impact of repeaters on educational system manifests itself in different ways, i.e., large classes, high drop-out rate, the demoralizing effect…

Across OECD countries, governments are seeking policies to make education more effective while searching for additional resources to meet the increasing demand for education. The 2008 edition of "Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators" enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries' performance. It provides a rich,…