Are class sizes too large? What can be done to reduce class size and why is it important?
Class size is an important topic in schools, especially in present time because there are so many students, but not enough teachers to allow the students and teachers to develop a personal bond and work closely together. Large classrooms tend to make students feel obsolete. They may start feeling that since they are just another face in the crowd, they don’t need to do well because it doesn’t matter. This can become a large problem. If students feel that their teacher won’t notice if they don’t show up, attendance rates may start dropping. Students who receive individual one-on-one interactions with their teachers and are a part of a smaller classroom, tend to focus better on learning because they feel more comfortable with both the teacher and other students, and have more resources available to them. The solution can not be to simply hire more teachers. This could pose several problems. The teachers being hired may not have high credentials or training because they are being hired in large amounts, or the school might not have enough money to hire new teachers.
Smaller classrooms have a lot of advantages. Students can work closely with one another and small groups can be formed during class time. If the classroom had say 45 students, it would be a lot harder to form small groups with enough room to work together and enough resources to use, other than the internet. Also students in smaller classrooms tend to learn better and pick up more information. This applies especially to children who are at higher risk of failing. According to Finn, J. D., Gerber, S.B., & Boyd-Zaharias, J. , “students who attend smaller classes in the early elementary grades were significantly more likely to graduate high school.” In a STAR study done in Tennessee, research found that 17% of inner city students who had been placed in small classes in the early grades were held back through the ninth grade, compared to 44% of those form similar backgrounds who had been put in regular sized classrooms. This is quite a large gap and shows that smaller classrooms are important especially during the elementary years and especially for children from low income homes who tend to need the extra support. Small class size can increase test scores as well because they allow teachers to focus more on actually teaching the children instead of making sure everyone is listening and behaving. Teacher-parent interaction tends to increase as well. The teacher has less students allowing them more time to talk to parents and set up meetings if needed which can also help the students learning process.
I feel that smaller class sizes are extremely important. They may be more expensive due to the higher amount of teachers needed, but in the long run it is well worth it. Students learn more and tend to do better later in life which is very important because the children are going to be our future. If we give them what they need now, our society will be better off later. I also feel it is important to be able to have that one-on-one with your teacher, especially during the first few years of school. Students learn by asking questions and working with others, and in smaller classrooms this is much more possible. Large classrooms seem to take away from the children’s education, which in my opinion defeats the whole purpose. Children go to school to learn and with smaller classes they can actually enjoy this process, whereas in larger classes it just becomes an everyday chore that doesn’t really matter.
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