A Comparative Analysis of Academic Achievement in Single-Grade and Multi-Grade Classes: A Case Study of Primary Schools in Golestan Province

Abstract

Social development, as one of the fundamental dimensions of education, plays a decisive role in students’ academic success and their future social life. Indicators of social development can be observed in the ways students interact with others, expand social activities, demonstrate the ability to critique and accept criticism, show willingness to provide assistance, develop verbal skills, and cultivate emotional intelligence. The school environment—and particularly the classroom—constitutes the most significant setting for socialization after the family, and the way classes are organized can substantially influence both social growth and academic achievement. Classrooms in educational systems are generally organized in two forms: single-grade and multi-grade. Multi-grade classes emerge as an unavoidable reality in many countries, including Iran, due to reasons such as teacher shortages, scattered student populations in rural areas, and the temporal flexibility of teaching–learning processes. Although this instructional arrangement entails challenges, it may also create opportunities for fostering autonomy, responsibility, and collaborative learning among students. This study aims to compare social development and academic achievement between students in single-grade and multi-grade classes. The research employed a descriptive–analytical method, drawing on data related to students’ academic and social performance during the 2014–2015 academic year. Instead of relying on qualitative descriptive assessment, quantitative scores and annual GPA averages were used as indicators of academic achievement. Findings revealed that although students in multi-grade classes demonstrated relatively higher levels of social development than their single-grade peers, the latter outperformed them academically, with statistically significant differences between the mean scores. These results suggest that while single-grade organization is more conducive to academic advancement, multi-grade classrooms provide a more favorable context for cultivating children’s social competencies. Based on these findings, it is recommended that educational policymakers, while maintaining the necessity of multi-grade classes in underprivileged areas, design strategies to strengthen the academic dimension of such classes and simultaneously capitalize on their potential for promoting students’ social development.