Class Size Crunch
By Caralee Adams
Like many teachers, Katie Parks Bailey often reflects on her day during her drive home. She's worked in three states, with different grade levels and varying class sizes. Bailey says, not surprisingly, she knows she did a better job managing her class, covering curriculum, and interacting with parents when she had fewer than 20 students in a class versus the year she had 35.
"When the classes were smaller, I felt more effective more often," says the 34-year-old teacher from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. With just 14 in her kindergarten class, Bailey says she could give the children the individual attention they needed.
Later, in larger classes, Bailey faced discipline problems and spent time breaking up fights. "When you don't feel effective, it clouds everything else," she says. On her evening commute, she was overwhelmed with worries about managing her class and had less energy left to put toward better teaching ideas.
It's hard to find an educator or parent who is not a fan of smaller classes. But the reality for principals and superintendents is that resources are limited. They have to weigh class size along with other approaches to help student achievement, such as beefing up teacher training or enhancing technology. And with the dismal economy, many states are facing larger class sizes rather than considering smaller ones. How does an administrator decide what's right for his or her district?
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