"HOUSTON! WE HAVE A PROBLEM!"
I proceeded to review the literature in this area and was surprised to see the lack of evidence connecting smaller class sizes to student performance
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There have been close to 300 separate studies nation-wide on the relationship between class size and student achievement. Professor Eric Hanushek (search), an economist at the University of Rochester, reviewed these studies and discovered that only 15 percent of them suggest that reducing class size improves student learning as measured by standardized tests.
Indeed, in 72 percent of the studies reviewed, there was no statistically significant effect on measurable student achievement associated with smaller classes. Even more surprisingly, in 13 percent of the studies reviewed, student test scores actually declined as class size was reduced. In sum, a full 85 percent of all of the studies on class size and student achievement found that reducing class size did not improve student performance.
None of this should really surprise anyone since, contrary to conventional wisdom, the nationwide average class size has actually been falling for decades (it was 30 students per class in 1961 and only 23 students per class in 1998); yet there has been no overall improvement in student classroom performance nationwide as measured by standardized tests (search). In short, class size may not generally matter (or may not matter much) in terms of how your daughter or my son actually performs in public school.
foxnews.com
The notion that smaller class sizes will automatically boost academic achievement has become a mantra for parents and politicians. But children in classes with 20 or fewer students scored no higher on a national reading test than students in classes with 31 or more students, says Kirk Johnson, an analyst with The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis.
Using data from the 1998 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading test, Johnson found that being in a small class does not affect reading achievement in any significant way.
heritage.org
How important is class size? According to Rodney Clifton, an education professor at the University of Manitoba, not very. He says there is little or no correlation between results and the student-teacher ratio, except at a fairly low threshold.
In other words, if you could afford one-on-one tutoring, which public schools cannot, you would notice a big improvement in your children's performance. But jiggering class sizes so that the ratio changes, say, from one teacher to 25 students instead of 30 doesn't really make much of a difference.
And the policy can backfire. Last summer, the Governor of California started a crusade to lower student-teacher ratios in his state from 30-1 to 20-1. He offered an extra $650 per student subsidy for classrooms that met the target. That started a frenzy to reduce class size, but schools didn't have the space or qualified teachers to meet the goal.
Fifteen thousand new classrooms were needed immediately, at a cost of about $50,000 each. And of course, that meant hiring 15,000 new teachers, most of whom had never set foot in a classroom. A professor at the University of California wrote that "an elementary class of 20 taught by an ill-prepared 'instant' teacher will prove far worse for the students involved than if they were in a class of 40 taught by a highly qualified and dedicated teacher."
fcpp.org
Tell you what: You can try again. |
