Will bigger classes hurt kids?
Veteran teachers have a surprising answer: Not much
| Sunday, Aug 23 2009 10:01 PM
Last Updated Sunday, Aug 23 2009 10:01 PM
When Kristin Faure’s Patriot Elementary kindergarten class grew from 20 to 30 students last year, she was continually surprised by how little she had to change.
Aside from space issues, like purchasing another half a rug for kids to sit on, Faure said it wasn’t as difficult as one would think to accommodate 10 extra students.
And test scores stayed the same — indicating the larger class size didn’t affect the students’ ability to learn.
“Teachers are usually pretty flexible by nature, so we were able to teach our core curriculum in a little bit different manner, but it wasn’t completely out of the question,” said Faure, whose school is in the Rosedale Union School District.
In fact, several other teachers contacted said they’re not too worried about the class-size increases coming to some local schools as a result of budget cuts.
Sure, they’d rather teach fewer kids, they say, but they’ll make it work.
Before and after
Cathy Barnett, a first-grade teacher in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District, has instructed kids both before and during class-size reduction.
When she started teaching 22 years ago, 27 or 28 students per class was the average. Her largest class was 33 students.
Last year she had only 18.
Barnett said she’s confident that with good planning and organization in the classroom she can handle any number of students.
“I just feel that teachers are so resourceful and so proactive and so caring about their students — they will find a way, regardless of circumstances, to meet the needs of their pupils,” Barnett said.
Other than purchasing a few extra supply boxes, Reagan Elementary kindergarten teacher Jeff Maberry said he doesn’t need to do much to prepare for a bigger class.
He’s taught for 17 years, and his largest class was 29 students before class-size reduction took effect.
The key to success in a bigger class is organization and creativity, like dividing students into small groups and inviting parents or other teachers to help with the rotating stations.
Maberry said there actually are advantages to larger classes: more diversity and more opportunity for parent volunteers.
“Kids are kids, whether there are 20 or 30,” he said. “I’ve done clay and painting projects with 29 kids before — it’s just going to take more time and preparation on my part.”
In Rosedale, some classes are actually getting smaller. Patriot kindergarten teacher Stephanie Hughes said even though she handled 30 students just fine, she’s looking forward to the drop to 24.
“They still got the one-on-one (individual attention), they just didn’t get as much,” Hughes said.
One teacher’s concerns
There are dissenting views.
As a parent and a teacher in the Bakersfield City School District, Shun Yee Florence Flesche said class size does affect student achievement. Not only do kids need individual attention from teachers academically, many need emotional support, she said.
And in a large class, Flesche said, students are unable to get that extra help and attention.
“We need to listen to their needs and set aside time to listen to them,” Flesche said. “If they are being bothered and they are not able to talk about it, learning really cannot take place if you are bothered emotionally or mentally.”
What studies say
A study by the Public Policy Institute of California showed there’s a double-edged sword to class-size reduction.
Smaller classes raise student achievement and increase test scores in grades K-3, it found. The effects were pronounced in schools serving predominately lower-income students.
But the study also found class-size reduction led to a dramatic increase in the percentages of inexperienced and uncertified teachers.
According to the California Teachers Association Web site, small classes improve student learning. It cited a June 2002 study by the Public Policy Institute of California that found five of the state’s largest school districts reported significant test score gains since the program began in 1996.
Test scores for third-grade students increased by 14 percent in math and 9 percent in reading in schools with mostly low-income students, according to the study.
