Answer:
a. Smaller class size is related to better academic performance.
Step-by-step explanation:
A hypothesis is a testable prediction, a scientific guess of what you expect to happen from a study. There are directional and non directional hypothesis, the directional hypothesis states exactly what you expect such as " smaller class size is related to better academic performance while a non directional hypothesis predicts that there will be an effect but does not specify the direction, example is "smaller class size is related to academic performance".
The option chosen is an example of a directional hypothesis, option b, c, and d are more statements of facts and not hypothesis.