Why quality teachers make a difference

By Sharin Hussain via SWNS

Smaller school classes do not always lead to better grades, a new study reveals.

Researchers claim that it is the quality of teacher that makes the difference and having smaller classes with poor teachers actually produces worse results.

They say that resources should be put into hiring good teachers rather than reducing class sizes.

The study revealed that poorer students who need the most help are being let down with a quarter of those in small classes getting worse grades.

The report, published in the Journal of Science Education, revealed that data on over 2,700 disadvantaged secondary school students shows that minimizing pupil numbers in classrooms does not lead to better grades.

Lead author, Professor Tao Jiang, of Taizhou University, China said: “This study supports the view that the quality of teachers, rather than the quantity, is the primary guarantee of students’ resilience.”

Reducing class sizes could even decrease the odds of children achieving the best results.

Despite concerns over staff shortages in schools, the quantity of teachers does not increase the odds of pupils from the poorest backgrounds achieving better results.

Resilience is guaranteed by the quality of teachers such as those with high discipline standards and who use their expertise to improve learning.

The researchers are urging policy makers to invest more in high-quality teachers and not to waste resources on cutting down the number of children in each class.

Prof Jiang said: “Quality teachers who effectively used teaching methods and managed classroom discipline increased the odds that individuals became resilient students.

“On the other hand, emphasizing the reduction of class sizes in schools may not benefit resilience. Smaller classes either had no relevance to resilience or were disadvantageous for resilience."

Academic resilience is defined as an individual’s ability to resist adversity and do well in school. It’s not fixed, and therefore can be improved, and is linked to what happens in schools and classrooms.

The data of 1,594 disadvantaged science students in Japan and 1,114 in China was analyzed, all aged between 15 and 16 years old.

The class sizes were from less than 15 pupils to more than 50 per class.

Prof. Jiang added: “Excessive emphasis on reducing class sizes is unnecessary, as it is detrimental to the emergence of students with high levels of resilience.

"Instead of allocating financial resources to reduce class sizes, it would be more effective to invest in providing high-quality science teachers.”

The participants were grouped into low, medium, or high-level resilience.

The researchers looked at what classroom factors, school resources and school culture increased the odds of being in the high-level group.

All students in the study had participated in the 2015 Program of International Student Assessment (PISA), an international questionnaire-based survey.

PISA measures a pupil’s ability to use their reading, mathematics, and science knowledge.

Teacher discipline and support levels were among the many issues assessed by PISA.

Pupils were also scored on motivation and how anxious they became during exams.

The results showed overall that a third of students displayed high-level resilience, a quarter low, and the rest medium.

High-resilience students were very positive towards school, science, and their future careers.

They also dedicated more time to learning science than others but did experience anxiety about exams.

The findings show that these students benefited from classroom discipline, teacher-directed instruction, inquiry-based teaching, and teacher support.

In Japan, the most robust predictor of high-level resilience was inquiry-based teaching, while in Macau, China, it was teacher-directed instruction.

Smaller classes either had no impact on resilience such as in Macau or had a negative effect as in Japan.

An increase in class size by just one rank raised the odds of disadvantaged pupils in Japan attaining the best rather than the lowest grades by 1.2 times.

Other findings from the study show that misbehavior in the classroom or school in general undermines resilience.

Researchers recommend for teachers to guide pupils to conform to rules, to maintain discipline and prepare lessons in line with the needs of students.