Live~NRGY

Editorial: Size doesn't matter.

Smart creative way to get my attention – so here goes.

Okay for starters, since we’re talking about classroom sizes and kids, SIZE MATTERS.

There’s only so much a teacher can do in a roomful of 30+ kids at various levels when you are taking into consideration the fact that you’ve got all types of intellectual, social and character levels.

If I’m not mistaken, whatever level a child is in a classroom of any size, the teacher’s goal I believe is to help a student surpass not only what is on the curriculum’s class, but excel in every which way possible for them to amaze people. In other words, we’re trying to bring the Einsteins out in each and every child whether they’re in arts classes, physical education or math, sciences and what have you.

That’s what I believe every school and teacher’s goals are. To add the pressure of let’s say for argument’s sake 30 or more compounds the difficulty a teacher has in fulfilling that goal of excellence.

I’m surprised honestly that we’re just now looking into stats and data to figure out what the ideal class size is. Maybe it’s because we have such a bigger variety of levels to deal with now than before. In any case, the discussion will be ongoing and schools, principles, teachers and parents will all have to be vigilant and involved to get the best results for the kids.

It’ll vary and isn’t a fixed target I believe. That’s where accommodations of discussions will be useful to get it about right.

The only reason to put a number in stone is to have some idea and reference from which to work with. Logic and certainly alot of compassion to make the magic number work will go a long way for everyone.

…”In the U.S., Greene and Winters say, where “the average student-to-teacher ratio dropped from 22.3 in 1970 to 16.1 in 2002 … student achievement on the national level did not improve.”…

Okay, were social issues factored in??? I’ll bet you there is a lot more going on in classes now than say 30 years ago. Numbers don’t tell the whole story.