Susan Graham
The New Normal of Class Size Just Isn’t Normal
Education Week Teacher
February 23, 2011
Complete URL: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/place_at_the_table/2011/02/there_was_an_old_woman.html
Does class size matter? This article is fascinating. The author contrasts what research says about class size with what is currently occurring in regards to the expansion of class sizes. “Students, teachers, and parents all report positive effects from the impact of class size reductions on the quality of classroom activity.” This is not the move we are making, driven by budgets, class sizes are expanding. In our district class sizes will increase by an average of one student in the 2011-2012 school year. In Detroit they are closing half the public schools. High school classes there will average 60 students! “Well, Secretary Duncan reminds us that ‘Many high performing education systems, especially in Asia, have substantially larger classes than the United States. According to OECD data, secondary school classes in South Korea average about 36 students. In Japan, it's 33 students per class.’” 36 – 33 ok, but 60? The intended audience for this article is teachers. This article is relevant because it is the environment we will enter, and the one many are currently operating in.
It is going to be crazy out there when we are able to teach with the class size. According to yesterday's Oregonian, the Hillsboro School District is thinking of adding one more student to each class, making the average class size at 28 students. This will save $1.75 million and will allow them to layoff 21 teachers.
ReplyDeleteIf they go to a class size of 30, it would save $5.25 million and result in 64 teachers being eliminated.
And though I appreciate Education Secretary Duncan's comments that the Chinese have much larger class sizes, that is because they have the largest population in the world and a totally different culture where respecting your teachers is more highly valued. So, though I think Mr. Duncan was trying to be helpful, I find his comments a little naive.
I am not sure how anyone feels about this but I sort of find it counterproductive to always point fingers or want to copy what another country is doing. I mean I hear about how Finland has the best education system in the whole world and it seems we are always trying to figure out how we could mimic or take from that. Ok - all good and well but - as we are seeing our culture is vastly different - our population - again not theirs. We are not China and what works for them may not work for us. I am not saying we shouldn't look to what is working for other countries but we have to keep in mind we are not them. We need a solution for the US and one that works here - fits the needs of our students. I don't see that looking the same here in Oregon as it does in Kentucky but the Federal govt would disagree with me. Common Core Standards would have us essentially teaching the same??? People are not robots we cannot teach like factories. We will each come in contact with many thinking, breathing, unique little people(well maybe not so little for the MS/HS crowd)and they deserve to be considered as individuals. Lumping students together in bigger and bigger classes is going to make it more difficult to connect with students on an individual level. I personally think that robs both parties. I want to teach individuals, to honor each kid in my room. I don't want to end the day thinking - did I even speak with so&so? Well now I am rabbit trailing -the usual.
ReplyDeleteSorry if the above sounds a bit rant"ish". It sort of was.
ReplyDeleteHere is an article from Florida that talks about how lowering class sizes has not improved quality of education. (arguably a different culture there too :) )
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nctq.org/tr3/issues/index.jsp?sectionId=15
If the job can be done with a few effective and professional educators, then getting rid of the red tape, bureaucrasy and ineffective teachers might sound harsh, but it may be the best thing for the kids.
Doug, That is a great article - thanks for posting the link! However, I would disagree with you re: one point. Though there were caveats given, the article did say in the following quote that small class sizes did have a positive affect on lower grades.
ReplyDelete"Drawing on the Tennessee Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) study and the Wisconsin Student Achievement Guarantee in Education (SAGE) study, AERA forcefully concludes that classes of 13-17 students implemented in kindergarten or first grade are effective, especially for low-income students. The results appear to stick, with students who had small classes in the early grades retaining an advantage though eighth grade."
So maybe it might be a good idea to have smaller class sizes in the lower grades and slowly make them larger as the kids grow older?