SOME BENEFITS TO LOWERING CLASS SIZE

It is no secret that teachers are highly in favor of reducing class sizes. Private schools pride themselves on higher academic achievement and lower class sizes, and the public largely agrees: “In each of five National Issues in Education polls commissioned by the Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF) between 1997 and 2004, Canadians cited class size reduction as the most pressing educational spending priority. In the October 2004 poll, some 76 percent of those surveyed said that public school classes are too large. “ -Class size can make a big difference in the quality of education delivered in schools. -more direct and lasting attention a teacher could provide to each student -a focus on the needs of individual students occurs when teachers form small groups and during whole-class instruction -allow teachers to know and understand the needs of the individual students, allowing intervention earlier when problems arise -children misbehave less because of the family atmosphere -quick intervention by teachers -teachers spend more time on direct instruction and less on classroom management -classes include more “hands-on” activities -students become more actively engaged in learning than peers in large classes -teachers of small classes “burn out” less often -fewer students repeating grades could make-up for cost The effects of class size have impacts not only on students, but also on teachers, and their abilities to create an effective, learning and unique learning environment to all students. This can easily be compromised because of the number of students in a class. Teachers consistently adapt their teaching to address the individual needs of the learners in their classroom. As the classroom becomes larger and more diverse, this task becomes increasingly more difficult. In the 2011 Progress Report, the government said that “student[s] in smaller classes get more individual attention from teachers and other educators, helping improve literacy and numeracy and are more likely to succeed. Reducing class size in the early grades (K - 3) has been found to have academic benefits, especially for poor and minority children. Students in the later high school grades seem to be more set in their ways, and change in habits is difficult. Therefore it is important to implement smaller class sizes at an earlier age for students to ensure their educational experience is maximized early on”. It seems as though it would be impossible to talk about the classroom community without addressing those that have special needs or ESL students. Clearly, a classroom of smaller numbers would be of great benefit to them, as children with these circumstances also need a great deal of special attention as well. It would be much easier for these students to slip between the cracks in a larger class. “Where identified, special education students are integrated into regular classrooms, these classes must be smaller so that the needs of all students can be met. Where segregated classes exist for identified special education students, numbers are always kept extremely small i.e., in the single digits, because of the extra teacher time that is required to meet the needs of special education students”. Inclusion education is important and could easily be forgotten. Today, inclusion is a highly debatable topic for parents, teachers and administration, where inclusion is trying to help students reach their full potential. There is also support for the explanation of the way that small class size results in better student outcomes, from recent research on brain development. “One aspect of this research shows the importance of the emotional and psychological aspects of the learning environment. Learning is achieved when neural pathways are laid down in cooperation among several areas of the brain. These areas include those that control emotional regulation, attachment, and arousal, as well as those that control cognition and language. All of these areas are necessary in the creation and stabilizing of neural path-ways”. This is one of the ways by which negative stress interferes with learning and positive emotional/social contexts are associated with learning. The emotional quality of the interaction may be of equal or greater importance than the cognitive content. The calmer atmosphere of smaller classes, with less discipline problems, and fewer episodes of teacher management may be a more important component of what creates the difference.