Yes, Class Size Absolutely Matters: Why Bigger Classes Can Mean Less Learning

School Leadership 2.0 | Summary for Educators

Based on:

Original Article: Yes, Class Size Absolutely Matters
Author: Adam | The Paste Eaters Blog
Published: October 25, 2026
Topic: Leadership & Inspiration | Instruction & Pedagogy

THE BIG IDEA

Class size is not simply a scheduling or budgeting issue. It directly influences how teachers teach, how students learn, and whether schools can provide the individual attention children need.

In a passionate, experience-based essay, educator Adam challenges the argument that adding more students to a classroom makes little difference in instructional effectiveness. Drawing on years of teaching experience, he describes how larger classes increase grading demands, classroom management challenges, and paperwork, and lead to teacher exhaustion—while reducing opportunities for meaningful feedback and individualized instruction.

His central criticism is directed at policymakers, consultants, and administrators who set class sizes without adequately consulting the teachers responsible for managing those classrooms.

The article raises an uncomfortable leadership question: When schools increase class sizes to save money, are they creating additional educational costs that never appear in the budget?

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Larger classes fundamentally change instruction.

Teaching 30 students is not simply teaching 20 students with 10 additional desks. As enrollment increases, teachers spend more time redirecting behavior, monitoring students, and managing transitions. Less time remains to explain concepts, address misunderstandings, and facilitate meaningful discussions.

2. Individual students become easier to overlook.

Adam identifies several patterns in crowded classrooms. Disruptive students gain larger audiences, students requiring frequent reassurance compete for limited attention, and quiet students may become virtually invisible. Students who need the most personal assistance can receive the least.

3. Grading workloads grow dramatically.

Consider a teacher responsible for 150 students. Providing just five minutes of meaningful written feedback to each student requires 12.5 hours. Multiply that across repeated assignments, and teachers face an enormous workload beyond their instructional responsibilities.

When time becomes scarce, teachers may understandably choose assignments that are easier to grade rather than those that produce the deepest learning.

4. Special education accommodations become harder to manage.

Larger classes complicate the implementation of IEPs, 504 plans, and other individualized supports. Teachers may be responsible for remembering dozens of accommodations while simultaneously managing instruction and classroom behavior. The author warns that excessive teaching loads increase the possibility of mistakes and overlooked needs.

5. Teacher effectiveness suffers when survival replaces reflection.

With manageable teaching loads, teachers can analyze student work, investigate instructional strategies, and improve lessons. With excessive workloads, preparation periods become frantic attempts to complete grading, paperwork, and correspondence.

Professional growth becomes another casualty of overcrowding.

6. More data cannot necessarily solve a workload problem.

When student performance declines, schools frequently respond by demanding additional assessments, documentation, and intervention reports. Adam argues that these requirements may worsen the problem when teachers already lack the time necessary to act on the information they possess.

WHY IT MATTERS FOR SCHOOL LEADERS

Class size decisions frequently begin with financial calculations: enrollment projections, staffing allocations, contractual limits, and available classroom space.

Yet these calculations rarely capture the full instructional consequences.

Consider two teachers, each assigned five classes. One teaches 20 students per class, while the other teaches 30. The second teacher is responsible for 50 additional students. Those students generate additional assignments, parent communications, accommodations, behavioral concerns, and individual learning needs.

Both teachers may receive identical preparation periods and face identical expectations.

The article challenges principals to recognize that equal schedules do not necessarily represent equitable workloads.

However, an important distinction deserves attention. Adam's article is primarily a practitioner's perspective, not a controlled research study. Research generally finds benefits from smaller classes, especially in the early grades and for some disadvantaged students, but the magnitude of those benefits varies by grade level, instructional context, and the size of the reduction. There is no universally established threshold at which teaching suddenly becomes ineffective.

LEADERSHIP ACTIONS

Five practical steps for principals

1. Audit actual teaching loads. Examine total student assignments, class sizes, IEP and 504 responsibilities, and grading requirements—not simply the number of classes taught.

2. Include teachers in scheduling decisions. Consult teachers before finalizing class sizes, particularly when assigning students with substantial instructional or behavioral needs.

3. Protect meaningful planning time. Reduce unnecessary administrative requirements and avoid spending preparation time on meetings or repetitive paperwork.

4. Prioritize reductions strategically. When staffing resources are limited, consider smaller sections for classes involving intensive writing, intervention, laboratory work, or substantial differentiation.

5. Examine consequences before celebrating savings. Monitor student feedback, disciplinary referrals, assignment completion, teacher workload, and retention when class sizes increase.

LEADER REFLECTION

The article concludes by asking teachers how administrators can better support those with heavy teaching loads.

That question should become part of every principal's leadership conversations.

Perhaps the most revealing question is not, "How many students can we place in this classroom?" but rather:

"How many students can this teacher realistically serve well, given their individual learning needs and the instruction we expect?"

Effective principals recognize that classroom efficiency and instructional effectiveness are not necessarily the same thing.

The goal should never be merely to fit more students into classrooms. It should be to create conditions in which teachers can do their best work—and every student has a reasonable opportunity to be noticed, supported, and challenged.

Discussion Question for School Leadership 2.0

When school budgets are tight, should reducing class size take priority over other school improvement initiatives, such as instructional technology, professional development, and additional academic programs?