Smaller classes work--and conservative budgets are killing them

[yurbud]

One superintendent of a district almost nailed it when he said the school wasn't making choices based on sound education theory but on ineptitude of politicians to make the right tax and budget choices.

I think he was too kind with ''ineptitude;'' it's corruption. The wealthy who want to keep their taxes low have money to buy politicians.

The other significant point here is that the corporate education reformers don't seen to care about the handful of research proven methods for improving public education.

I would add that they never seem to suggest public schools function more like the private schools where they send their children and which still do all the enrichment things public schools used to do before they were targeted for demonization and privatization.

7 Class size myths -- and the truth
By Valerie Strauss

Across the country, class sizes are increasing at unprecedented rates. An estimated 58,000 teachers were laid off in September, at the same time as enrollment was increasing in much of the country. In California, two thirds of the districts have seen jumps in class size, with many early grade classes rising from 20 to 30 students, after rules first established in 1996 governing the state’s class size reduction program were loosened.

As Don Iglesias, superintendent of public schools in San Jose was quoted as saying,

"This is not a choice that anybody is making because we think increasing class size is a wonderful thing for our schools. It's a choice because there's ineptitude in terms of our elected officials in Sacramento and their unwillingness to raise taxes or cut programs accordingly."

Studies from Tennessee, Wisconsin, and states throughout the country have demonstrated that students who are assigned to smaller classes in grades K-3rd do better in every way that can be measured: they score higher on tests, receive better grades, and exhibit improved attendance.

The Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education has concluded that class size reduction is one of only four, evidence-based reforms that have been proven to increase student achievement through rigorous, randomized experiments -- the "gold standard" of research. (The other three reforms are one-on-one tutoring by qualified tutors for at-risk readers in grades 1-3; life-skills training for junior high students, and instruction for early readers in phonics – and not one of the policies that the corporate reformers are pushing.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/class-size/7-class-size-myths----and-the.html">FULL TEXT

[dkf]

1. Then shouldn't the statistic that count be the layoffs for grades K-3?

I agree that this should be based on studies and would love if those 4 key components were focused on. Maybe they should be shrinking class sizes for k-3 and growing 4-12.

Restructuring around those principles would probably result in layoffs anyway so the numbers you present don't prove anything in and of themselves.

[yurbud]

2. it helps at higher levels too. Try teaching a class of 30 or more average high school students

I worked as a sub for a while, and the job was mostly preventing violence and sex in the classroom. At a lot of places, it was clear from the regular teacher's lesson plans that her expectations weren't much higher.

[cy18]

3. Thoughts

Classes have huge sizes in college and not just public school. It's really up to the individual to make their education the best experience possible.

[yurbud]

5. you can get away with larger classes in SOME college subjects because students WANT

to be there, and instructors have the option of kicking out and dropping students who are disruptive.

And in some college classes, class size does matter. I teach English comp, and my classes are limited to 25 at one school and 27 at the other. If I had 50 student papers to read per class, every second outside of class would just be spent grading, or more likely, they'd get a much less thorough evaluation.

[July16th-20th]

4. The rich will send THEIR kids to expensive private schools.

And this will further the Dickensianizing of America.

[yurbud]

6. I mentioned DeTocqueville to one of my college students and she said they read that in

her high school. I asked if it was public or private and she laughed and said private. They sat around on bean bag chairs debating whether his observations were still true.

This woman was bright, but not a stand out in class by any means. If she could handle that in high school, a lot of kids could instead of the regurgitated, stripped of controversy (and therefore interest) textbooks public school kids get.