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| New Study: Class Size Doesn’t Matter? |
| posted by: Alix | February 01, 2012, 02:42 PM |
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Class size has for years been an important subject for teachers. Many claim that with fewer students, teachers are able to provide individualized attention and student learning increases as a result. While a number of organizations have championed this argument for generations, a new study released by the National Bureau of Economics debunks the age old myths that polices like lower class size and per pupil spending are the determining factors in receiving a quality education. Two Harvard researchers looked at the factors that actually improve student achievement and those have little influence on student gains in an effort to examine what really works in the classroom. In a new paper economists Will Dobbie and Roland Freyer analyzed 35 charter schools from across the country, schools that generally have greater flexibility in terms of school structure and policy implementation. They found that traditionally emphasized factors such as class size made minimal difference, compared with some "less popular" criteria including teacher feedback and greater accountability. "We find that traditionally collected input measures — class size, per pupil expenditure, the fraction of teachers with no certification, and the fraction of teachers with an advanced degree — are not correlated with school effectiveness," said the researchers. In stark contrast when comparing the data, the authors form new innovative conclusions relating to effective policies. "We show that an index of five policies suggested by over forty years of qualitative research — frequent teacher feedback, the use of data to guide instruction, high-dosage tutoring, increased instructional time, and high expectations — explains approximately 50 percent of the variation in school effectiveness." The study delivers a tremendous blow to the status-quo education establishment who claim that more money, more teachers, and a fixation on certification and advanced degrees will close achievement gaps, despite record-level spending year after year. What the findings do promote are policies that reform communities have been fighting for, with particular regard to high expectations for students and teachers and increased instructional time. According to insiders, this study will certainly be pointed to in advocating for reforms in the years ahead. Still, despite the clear evidence that supports recent reform efforts, the jury is still out on how this will information will influence states and localities. In the wake of harsh budget realities, education spending has taken a hit in many schools, leaving many to wonder whether class size will be forced to go up exponentially in the years ahead regardless of data. What do you think about class size? Comment below.
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Comments (6)
President
written by Joe Gordon, March 26, 2015
I studied Algebra II at Cheshire Academy where the class size was 6 students. I can still solve the quadratic equation after 57 years.
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written by Marvin McConoughey Oregon, February 10, 2014
Large class sizes worked better for me, as a learner. I get more chances to find good study partners, meet a larger diversity of fellow classmates, and can listen to a greater diversity and richness of student questions that help clarify points that may have been overlooked or not realized by the teacher. Thus, both teacher and student benefit. However, old teaching habits based on little classes may need updating when the teacher has more learners to benefit from her talents. My teachers were superb. Bad teachers may need little classes to carry them through.
I Prefer Small Classes
written by Lynn St. Louis, March 17, 2012
If we are to provide high-quality, rigorous instruction via differentiation and direct instruction, and if we're to develop units that emphasize enduring understandings and essential questions, I would rather do so with a class of 21 students, not 31!
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written by Pat Smith, Visalia CA, March 14, 2012
California had supported class size reduction to 20 students for many years in the primary grades. Now some of our classes our about 32 students. We begin our kindergarten year with four and five year olds. A child can be four until December 2nd and enroll in kindergarten. I can tell from personal experience that class size does matter. The article suggests that the policies that make a difference are frequent teacher feedback, increased instructional time, use of data to guide instruction, and high-dosage tutoring - all of these have are reduced with the larger class sizes. I have less time to get around to students to provide teacher feedback. More time is spent on behavior issues, logistical issues and this reduces instructional time. There is little time to get to students that need tutoring, correctives, or additional instruction. It takes a great amount of time to assess students at this age level and acquire data to guide instruction as many traditional assessments are confusing for the inexperienced young child and many assessments require one-on-one assessment which also takes away from instructional minutes.
Executive Director written by Doug Rogers--- Austin, Texas, February 02, 2012
I would like to know how many classes studied by Dobbie and Freyer included no more than twelve students. I would guess none of the classes studied contain a class-size of tweleve students because there are not any public or charter schools that only have twelve students per class. Look at private schools on the otherhand and the data might exist. It should be obvious that if you add one student to twenty-two students that there will not be much change, but if you add one student to twelve students in a class that the data may differ. The point is we have never had the number of students per class as small as twelve-to-one to truly measure the difference.
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