Class Sizes Makes a World of Difference

I’ve been on both sides of the equation regarding class sizes. As a student, I have been in classrooms where there have been less than ten students and, on the flip side, being in giant lecture halls where there have literally been hundreds. 

 

As a teacher, I had taught classes when the student population for the grade was a dozen or so and had classes where there were more than 30 students jam-packed in a small trailer attached to the side of the school building. 

 

For the “experts” that proclaim there is only a modest rise in student achievement for small class sizes, they are not grasping the full benefits that go hand in hand with small groups instead of large ones. There are many other advantages for all involved when class sizes are not quite so immense.

 

Benefits for Educators

If you were offered a teaching job that was similar in pay and you had to choose between 15 students in the classroom or 30, which job would you pick?

 

For most, it should be a no-brainer. Just some of the advantages would be: 

• Better class behavior
• Fewer discipline problems
• Greater chance to know your students better
• Improved communication with parents
• Able to work more one-on-one with students
• Less papers to grade
• Quieter classroom more conducive to getting work completed
• All students have a chance to participate in discussions

Benefits for Students

While many of these advantages will be similar to what the teacher would experience, they are phenomenal even if grades only supposedly marginally improve in smaller class sizes.  

• Students would have a better chance to make friends with everyone in the class
• Social interaction is increased
• More one-on-one time with the teacher
• Assignments can be individually modified based on the students’ needs
• Fewer distractions
• Students in smaller classes score better on exams
• Students will learn faster and score better overall

So Why Aren’t More Schools Going with Smaller Class Sizes?

As with everything in education, it comes down to the budget most of the time. Larger schools do not have the budget to add more classrooms, nor the space, and also hire more teachers. The government hands down a certain amount of tax dollars to public schools every year, and the schools just have to make due. 

 

There Are Alternatives

Who says you have to teach or have your child attend a large public school? There are plenty of alternatives that you can choose from.  

• Smaller public schools in towns that are not so large.
• Parochial schools usually have small class sizes.
• Private schools do have a higher price tag attached to them than public schools, but the class sizes are generally smaller, too.

If You Are a Parent or a Concerned Educator

Suppose there is a child you know that could benefit from some one-on-one instruction. In that case, iAchieve has plenty of qualified instructors that can tutor virtually any subject level and at any grade level as well. 

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