ABSTRACT

Class size reduction is frequently argued to be a cost-effective way to improve learner outcomes. In the South African context, most studies conclude that greater class sizes are associated with poorer educational outcomes on average. However, given the country’s bimodal education system, it is plausible to believe that such a relationship may depend on where learners find themselves in the system. This paper merges newly available data from the 2017/18 School Monitoring Survey with external administrative data to investigate whether the relationship between class size and learner outcomes varies by school socioeconomic status. Although extreme class sizes are concentrated in poorer schools, class size is only negatively associated with learner outcomes in wealthier schools. This finding is robust to several robustness tests. This does not imply that class size does not matter. Rather, reductions may only be effective in the South African context once other school quality-related factors are addressed.

摘要

减少班级规模经常被认为是提高学习成果的一种经济有效的方式。在南非的背景下，大多数研究得出的结论是，班级规模越大，平均教育成果就越差。然而，鉴于该国的双模教育系统，有理由相信这种关系可能取决于学习者在系统中所处的位置。本文将 2017/18 学年学校监测调查的最新可用数据与外部行政数据相结合，以调查班级规模与学习成果之间的关系是否因学校社会经济地位而异。尽管极端班级规模集中在较贫穷的学校，但班级规模仅与较富裕学校的学习成果负相关。这一发现对几个稳健性测试是稳健的。这并不意味着班级规模无关紧要。相反，一旦其他与学校质量相关的因素得到解决，减少可能只有在南非的情况下才有效。