High school Class-size and College Performance in Science

This paper focuses on the influence of high school science class size on students' achievement in introductory college science courses and on the variation of teacher practice across class size. Surveys collected information about high school science class experiences from 2754 biology, 3521 chemistry, and 1903 physics students across 36 public and 19 private institutions from 31 different states. The first analysis includes a cross-tabulation of 6 different class sizes and the frequencies of teacher practices reported by students. The second analysis includes a multiple linear regression of class size and student achievement. Results show no differences for pedagogy and student achievement until class sizes fall to 10 or fewer students. These findings suggest that incremental reductions in class size are likely not to have a significant impact on later student achievement.