The number of students a teacher has to deal with during a given period of instruction is referred to as a class size. Class size is the average number of students per class calculated by dividing the number of classes by the number of students enrolled. Special needs programs have been excluded to ensure cross-national comparability. Only regular programs at these two levels of education are included in the data, and teaching in sub-groups outside of the regular classroom setting is also excluded. Class size is one of a small number of variables in K-12 education in the United States that are both believed to influence student learning and are subject to legislative action.
