Research Paper

THE EFFECTS OF CLASS POPULATION IN THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF THE STUDENTS OF MARIKINA CHRISTIAN INTEGRATED SCHOOL, SCHOOL YEAR 2012-2013

Submitted By:
Jedidiah Ysis G. Gutierrez
Alyssa Matulac

Submitted To:
Ms. Gerda Cruz
Teacher, Method of Research

August 1, 2013
CHAPTER I- THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND A. Background of the Study Class Population is the reason why students cannot focus and can be easily distracted. It causes the students to be timid and refrain from asking question to their teacher. The Researchers wanted to know the effects of class population in the academic performance of the students of Marikina Christian Integrated School. They wanted to know whether their poor grades were due to class population or not. The researchers had experienced difficulties in studying due to class population in Marikina Christian Integrated School. They wanted to know if other students also experience this kind of difficulty.

B. Research Paradigm
Class Population of the Respondents

Effects of Class Population

Good Effects of Class Population

Bad Effects of Class Population

Academic Performance of the Students

C. Statement of the Problem The researchers’ main objective in this project was to determine “The Effects of Class Population in the Academic Performance of the Students of Marikina Christian Integrated School, School Year 2012-2013”. Most specifically; this study sought to answer the following questions: 1.) What is the profile of the respondents in terms of the following variables: a. Age b. Gender c. Average number of students per class.

2.) What is the effect of class population to the academic performance of the respondents in Marikina Christian Integrated School, School Year 2012-2013?

3.) What is the academic performance of the respondents in school year 2012-2013?

4.) Is there any significant difference between the academic performance of the respondents who are many in class and that of those who are not?

D. Hypothesis There is no significant difference between the academic performance of the respondents who are many in class and that of those who are not.

E. Significance of the Study The groups of people who will be benefited in this study are the following: 1.) The Students – For them to know the effects of their class population to their academic performance. The information about the bad effects of average number of students per class may help them realize that they have to focus in spite of their population in class.

2.) The Teachers- For them to realize that there are so many students that may cause difficulty in the academic performance of the students.

3.) The Parents- For them to know where to enroll their child whether in a school with numerous students in a class or not. To help them know the effects of the number of students per class to the academic performance of their child.

F. Scope and Delimitation The survey was conducted in Marikina Christian Integrated School only. The respondents were Grade 7, Grade 8 and year III. The basis of this research was the academic performance of the respondents of school year 2012-2013. This study was about the effects of the class population in the academic performance of the respondents. This study did not include the causes of the class population to their academic performance.

G. Definition of Terms

1) Academic Performance is the average grade of the students in their report card for the school year 2012-2013.

2) Highschool Students are group of respondents used by the researchers to answer their survey questions, school year 2013-2014. These are the Grade 7, Grade 8 and Year III, school year 2012-2013.

3) Respondents are group of students who answered the survey questions.

4) Class Population is the average number of students in a particular class. The ideal number of students per class is 30. It is one of the variables of this study.

5) Variables are the main topics that are being studied by the researches. It is where this study focuses.

6) Researchers are people who conducted survey to solve the problem about the given topic.

7) Survey is composed of different questions related to the problem to be solved and to be answered by the respondents.

8) Timidity is one of possible result in a particular student if he belongs in a numerous class.

9) Effect is the outcome of a certain situation that contributes to a subject of sudden change like the class population to the academic performance of students.

10) Difficulty is a state of the students who are in hard times of their academic performance due to the number of the class population.

CHAPTER II- REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

A. Related Literature

Class size and student achievement:
Reducing class size to increase student achievement is an approach that has been tried, debated, and analyzed for several decades. The premise seems logical: with fewer students to teach, teachers can coax better performance from each of them. Some researchers have not found a connection between smaller classes and higher student achievement, but most of the research shows that when class size reduction programs are well-designed and implemented in the lower grades. Student achievement rises as class size drops.
Reduction of Class Size Expanding Academic Performance:
Most professionals in the field believe that smaller classes are conducive to effective learning which makes students to have a study better environment and lead teachers to teach more effectively. Some authors strongly argue that “class size [reductions] should not just be a cornerstone.”(Blatchford, P, 2003, P.1) However, there remains disagreement that some people considering class size cannot be an important factor affecting students’ academic performance. A clear definition of small class should better be made before analyzing this issue. An author pointed out that “the concept of small class teaching is that generally, 20-25 students or below per class is considered as small, but different countries have different interpretations on the size of a small class.”
Evidence from Population Variation in Minnesota’s Elementary Schools:
Estimation of the impact of class size reductions is complicated by several problems. Simple comparisons of test scores of students in classes of different sizes produces biased estimates because children in small and large classes differ in a variety of observed and unobserved ways. In theory, random assignment of students to classes of different size will provide unbiased estimates, but random assignment is rare in education research.
Effects of overcrowded classrooms: With the number of students enrolled in schools increasing, according to the National Center for Educational statistics, schools are forced to put more children in each classroom or use smaller spaces as classrooms. This overcrowding can have negative effects on students and teachers. Meaning, if the number in class increases there is negative effects on students and teachers.

Overpopulation in Schools Affecting Test Scores:
Student concentration is adversely affected when classrooms are overcapacity and resources are limited. Overpopulated schools generally have to use non-classroom facilities as classrooms, such as the lunchroom or media center. The problem is that these rooms are not always equipped with whiteboards, desks or other classroom resources necessary for student learning. Distractions are also common in overcrowded schools with more students per class and classrooms in closer proximity.
Big Classrooms Big Problem:
One such problem is increasing class size that affects students as young learners, which in turn creates a frame of reference that can carry on into adult learning. Some of the effects that larger classrooms pose: is less one-on-one time for student and teacher, low self-esteem, and reduced motivation and effort by student.

B. Related Studies

According to Glass and Smith the landmark 1978 study, strongly endorsed reduced class size as a reform likely to produce improvements in academic achievement. The researchers reviewed 80 research reports on the relationship between class size and achievement, obtaining more than 100 comparisons from “well-documented” studies of smaller and larger classes using rigorous statistical analyses. The meta-analysis showed: As class size decreases, achievement increases. Benefits begin to emerge as class size falls below 20 students.

According to Nye et al. (2004), the STAR experiment provided rather strong evidence that class-size reduction led to immediate increases in academic achievement in both reading and mathematics, with some evidence of larger effects for minority students.
The Effects of Class Size and Composition on Student Achievement: New Evidence from Natural Population Variation

Based on Caroline M. Hoxby, she found that reductions in class size from a base of 15 to 30 students have no effect on student achievement. The estimates are precise enough to identify improvements in math, reading, or writing achievement of just 3/100ths of a standard deviation. I find that the presence of black students in a class, in itself, has no effect on achievement.

Lazear (2001), offered a disruption model to explain the importance of class size. He claimed that optimal class size was larger for better-behaved students and this helped explain why it was difficult to find class size effects in the data. He proposed that age and attention span factored into the class size-student outcomes equation.

Nye and colleagues (2004), acknowledge that the reason why small classes led to higher achievement and differentially higher achievement for minority students was not clear. They hypothesized that small classes may permit teachers to more effectively individualize instruction. Small classes may also tend to have fewer disruptions making all-class instruction more effective.

Based on Sergiovanni (1995), even if small schools do cost slightly more per student than do large schools, small schools could still be more efficient if they were more productive. Thus, he urged educational decision-makers to go beyond simple per student cost and consider the ratio of productivity to cost.

According to Omotere Adunola, Large class size and over populated schools have direct impact of the quality of teaching and instruction delivery. Overcrowded classrooms have increased the possibilities for mass failure and make students to lose interest in school. This is because large class size do not allow individual student to get attention from teachers which invariably lead to low reading scores, frustration and poor academic performance.

According to Maria Elena Dugos (2012), A crowded classroom is typically chaotic. It is unrealistic to pretend we are meeting standards when teachers have no time to really teach students with so many managements taking place. To put it simply, the larger the number of students in a class, the greater the amount of time devoted to classroom management rather than instruction.

Based on Adelaida Leonor Cayunda(2012), a lesser number of students in a class influences the conduciveness of the environment. With a limited number of students in a class, instructors can easily facilitate, assess and evaluate students’ academic performance.

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