Beyond Capacity: The Relationship Between Preschool Class Size and Special Education Participation

This policy paper by the Taub Center shows that overcrowding in general preschools leads parents of children with special needs to enroll them in separate special education frameworks — a phenomenon that occurs mainly in Hebrew State education and in socioeconomically strong local authorities. The study’s authors, Dr. Sarit Silverman and Nachum Blass, the head of the Education Policy Program at the Taub Center, call on policy makers to reduce class sizes in the general preschool education system in order to expand integration opportunities for children with special needs.

The study, which examined the phenomenon between 2005 and 2024, reveals a shift in the relationship between average preschool class size in local authorities and the share of children enrolled in separate special education frameworks, with significant differences between municipalities at different socioeconomic levels and between sectors and supervision types. This trend, which was nearly nonexistent at the beginning of the period under review (2005–2009), has expanded steadily over the past two decades, and is particularly evident in Hebrew State education and in middle- to high-income local authorities. For example, between 2020 and 2024, the share of students enrolled in separate frameworks in Hebrew State education ranged from 5.5% in municipalities with the smallest preschool classes to nearly 8% in those with the largest classes, compared to much lower rates in other sectors and supervisory authorities. In more affluent local authorities (clusters 5–8), enrollment rates reach 4.5%–7%, compared to approximately 3%–4% in less affluent areas.

According to the researchers, the increase in enrollment in separate special education preschools undermines the Ministry of Education’s efforts to increase the share of students with special needs integrated into general preschools. They call on the Ministry to act without delay to reduce the average number of children in general education preschools from 30 today to 19, as recently recommended by the Shapira Committee.