At my Mother's Day School back home, there is a Pre School and a private Kindergarten. There are 14 students in the Kindergarten class. I have worked in there many times when I am home and have seen so much quick progress in the classroom. They also have two teachers in the classroom. My questions are, in what ways do you all believe small class sizes to be beneficial and do you think it is even an option in the public schools?

Ideally it would be great to have a student to teacher ratio close to 7 students to 1 teacher, but those are pure ideals to me. The public school systems are continually facing overcrowding, over-enrolled classes, and a shortage of qualified teachers. I think that goal or anything close to that goal is unobtainable.

I interned at Cove Creek Elementary in a third grade classroom. There were only sixteen students in that classroom and it was AWESOME. The teacher loved it and said (which is obvious) that you are able to do so much more with the students and they learn so much more and get the attention that they need and deserve. I think that is a good size for a class, and why isn't it possible? The people who have the power and make the choices should make it a priority.

Small classes are great. You actually can see a lot of them in this area at the more rural schools like Green Valley and Mabel and especially Bethel. I taught a combination middle school/elementary school P.E. class at Green Valley last semester and 20 kids was the most I ever had to deal with. On a normal day it was more like 15. That is extremely rare for a physical education class. However you have the other extreme in this county also which is at Hardin Park which normally sees about 50 to 60 students in each P.E. class.

I think having smaller classes is great. I know that even in college, I took a few summer classes that only had 8-10 students. I felt more comfortable in those classes when I commented during class, and definately felt like the professor took more of an interest in each individual.

In a public school setting, however, this is definately not typical. Teachers are forced to have 20-30 children in a classroom at one time, if not more in some cases. There are not enough teachers or time in the school day to do a lot to change the way it is. Unless the budget allowed for more teachers or creating more classrooms, most public schools are going to have large class sizes.

Like Dusty was saying I did an internship at Hardin Park and so I was able to observe the PE class there a few times and it was horrible! They had every class for one particular grade outside on the playground with one, maybe two people. The teachers sat around and didn't pay any attention to the kids while they ran around and killed each other. A student fell and it was up to the interns to pick her up and take her to the PE teacher. I coudn't believe it. I could just see a kid falling and really hurting themself and no one even noticing. I think small classes are great and I'm all for them. However, it is very idealistic to believe that we will get classes smaller than 20-25, depending on where we teach. But, I agree with Jenny and whomever makes the decision should place smaller class sizes on the agenda higher up than what it is.

In my internship (Avery Middle) we had a small classroom but it was still hard to meet all the needs of the students. This is something I am concerned about because I am a special education major. If I teach middle school, high school, or have a self contained classroom all to myself (with no aid) how am I going to reach all the children in my class when each one will be on their own level? I guess one of the main problems is the shortage of teachers out there. If there is not enough teachers to fill the slots then we will be left to take on more children.

Small is ideal, but reality is we are not a small country and we have a small budget and a small pool of qualified teachers that stay in the field! However, I do think that it is the priority of the parents, community, and the teachers to push for the best for the children. 7 to 1 is an extreme, however if we could just make sure you get 20 to 2, then we would be making a step in the right direction.

linda

I think that schools should strive for smaller class sizes whenever possible. It is proven that students learn faster when the teacher is able to give them more individualized instruction and attention. It is a challenge for public schools teachers, but it is not impossible.

I think that smaller class sizes are very s valuable for everyone in the room. You get a sense of community and the teacher can spend lots of time working one on one. It is sad that it is very rare these days. Not enough teachers and too many students. I prefer smaller class sizes but it just doesn't seem very realistic right now, but I know it has wonderful benefits for all.