Part 2 — PERFORMANCE OF SUBGROUPS - School Size Differences
School Size Differences

Results were compared from students in larger, medium sized and small schools (see Table 1).

The first data column shows the percentage of tasks on which there were no statistically significant differences in student performance according to size of school. The second data column shows the percentage of tasks on which statistically significant differences occurred in relation to school size.

School Size Differences: Year 4
Subject
=
Diff
Science
100
0
Art
100
0
Graphs/Tables
100
0
Music
100
0
Technology
100
0
Reading
100
0
Speaking
100
0
Info. Skills
90
10
Social Studies
100
0
Mathematics
94
6
Listening
100
0
Viewing
100
0
Health
96
4
Phys. Ed.
91
9
Writing
100
0
Average
98
2
School Size Differences: Year 8
Subject
=
Diff
Science
97
3
Art
100
0
Graphs/Tables
100
0
Music
85
15
Technology
94
6
Reading
100
0
Speaking
100
0
Info. Skills
96
4
Social Studies
96
4
Mathematics
100
0
Listening
100
0
Viewing
93
7
Health
100
0
Phys. Ed.
100
0
Writing
97
3
Average
97
3
   
Comment These analyses show that school size within the roll range encountered in the national monitoring sample is not in itself established as a key determinant or good predictor of student achievement. These results contribute an important educational perspective for discussion and debate on the relative merits and effects of school size for student learning outcomes.