This study sought to determine the effects of class size on academic achievement of the pupils. A meta-analysis was undertaken from studies published in 2008 onwards that reported data on class size of elementary schools and pupils’ academic achievement. The primary hypothesis for this thesis was there was a significant effect between class size and pupil’s academic achievement. An extensive systematic review of the literature was conducted using bibliographic databases and other sources, resulting in the review of hundreds of abstracts and articles. Initially this review resulted in the identification of approximately 133 articles, from which 72 were identified as potential studies for inclusion in this meta-analysis. As data were abstracted from each potential study and evaluated, 32 studies remained for inclusion in this meta-analysis. Of these 32 studies, 13 either reported effect sizes in the results section or included sufficient data to calculate the effect sizes. Of these 13 studies, five studies showed no significant effect of class size on pupils’ academic achievement and the remaining 8 studies reported a significant effect of class size on pupils’ academic achievement. Therefore, it is safe to note that class size has a significant effect on pupils’ academic achievement in elementary schools.
