Student Achievement
This is a research paper I did to see if class size is related to student achievement.
I used two studies to see if class size was related to student achievement. When you read my paper you will gain the knowledge of how controversial this issue is. It shows the actual findings of two studies. My paper shows how younger kids are benefiting from the smaller classes. There is still ongoing research to really decide if smaller really is better.
Many parents and teachers desire smaller classes for their children. However, are smaller classes necessarily increasing student achievement? It has been an assumption that if a student is in a small class setting, there are fewer distractions and the learning experience is greater. People feel children have more individualized attention, which may lead young students towards greater academic success. Research has been conducted across the country to see if smaller class size is really better.
The number of students in a classroom recently became a controversial issue. There has been research that shows that class size depends on many variables. Some of these variables include the age level of students, subject matter taught, and instructional methods used. “Recent statistical syntheses of this research reveal that the instructional benefits of smaller classes are most significant for classes numbering under twenty students; in those with twenty five to forty students class size has little overall effect on educational quality” (Ellis, 1984, p.1). The benefits of a smaller class include increased one-on-one learning between the student and the teacher. This also allows the teacher to ascertain a student’s learning ability. If there are fewer stude...
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..., Smith, P, Zahorik, J, Halbach, A, Ehrle, K, Hoffman, L, & Cross, B. (2001). 2000-2001 Evaluation results of the student achievement guarantee in education (SAGE) program. Retrieved April 28, 2003 from the World Wide Web at http://www.asu.edu/educ/epsl/SAGE/annual_reports/2000-2001%20Evaluation/epru-0201-104.htm#overview
“Sage Initiative Evaluation”. (February 2002). Sage and direct instruction projects. Retrieved April 28, 2003 from the World Wide Web at http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CERAI/sage.html.
This website was about Project SAGE. It explained exactly what the study intended to do. For example, it planned to: Reduce the student-teacher ratio in their classrooms to 15:1 in grades K-3; Stay open extended hours (creating "lighted schoolhouses"); Develop rigorous academic curriculums; and, Implement plans for staff development and professional accountability.
Stiggins, R., & Chappuis, J. (2008). Enhancing Student Learning. Retrieved from July 2009 from, http://www.districtadministration.com/viewarticlepf.aspx?articleid=1362.
In 1986, the Tennessee legislature commissioned the Tennessee Class Size Experiment to determine if class size made a difference in achievement for disadvantaged students. After studying 79 different schools in 42 school districts for 4 years, the researchers found that class size only had an effect on students in kindergarten through 3rd grade, and that effect was minute. The impact was only on reading, not math, and smaller classes did not help disadvantaged students. A 2002 study of New York City schools showed that smaller schools, not smaller classes, had an effect on student success.
Endeavor Elementary school has 99 students, 4.5 students for a 22:1 student to teacher ratio for grades 4K through 5th grade. The student to teacher ratio in grade 4K through 3rd grade of 15:1 and in grade 25:1 for grades 4th and 5th grades; these ratios are exactly in line with EBAA. Odden and Picus (2014) state, “Prototypical schools with class sizes of 25 in grades 4-12 and class sizes of 15 for grades K-3 with these class sizes, a K-5 elementary school would have an average class size of 17.3” (p. 84). Hence, the class sizes used at Endeavor Elementary school are adequate as research by Oden and Picus (2014). Endeavor uses a multi-grade level approach by combining grades 5th and 4th, 3rd and 2nd, 1st and Kindergarten; the 4K class is
In countries who have high academic achievement rates, they recognize that students must be engaged in what they are learning in order to do well (Robinson, 2013). As Robinson (2013) states in his lecture, “the system has to engage them, their curiosity, their individually, and their creativity. That’s how you get them to learn.” In order to accomplish this, policy must require classes to become smaller so that individual support can be provided to each student. This will invoke a sense a belonging which will help students feel more responsible for their own education. Research also supports that fostering relationships between students and school faculty leads to higher attendance rates, greater academic achievements (Colby,
Districts have to think about if it is worth the money to reduce class sizes, and if there is enough proof that students are academically better off in smaller class size rather than larger classes. According to Matthew Chingos and Grover Whitehurt authors of Class Size: What Research Says and What It Means for State Policy, “Increasing the pupil/teacher ratio in the U.S. by one student would save at least $12 billion per year in teacher salary cost alone” (Chingos, Whitehurt). Why would districts want to pay for the creation of smaller classes when they could save more by just adding more students to a class? This goes to show that there should not be a price tag on someone’s education. Why put more on a teacher’s plate just to save money? With the result from the Student Teacher Ratio, it is hard for districts to say that having smaller class sizes is not the way to spend money. If the districts spent the money on the class size reduction, they would not have to worry about an annual cost, because once small classes are set in place, the districts do not have to continue to pay. According to the National Education Association (NEA), having class size reductions do not only involve money but also create “improved health, less Medicaid coverage, lower crime rates, and fewer welfare recipients” (Class Size Reduction: A Proven Strategy). So, the districts should also look at this before being concerned to where their money goes. The district’s money, according to the NEA, is going into these students who will live a better life later on when they are out of school and into the real
The day I walked into the sixth grade classroom at County Elementary, for my very first job of Substitute Teaching, I was nervous and wondered to myself, “How am I going to teach this group of kids?” Rows of desks all facing the front was the only thing that seemed familiar to me. So with a deep breath, lesson plans in hand, I pressed on. The day consisted of me lecturing and the students infrequently responding. For years the prevailing thoughts on classroom setup have been what I call a teacher centered approach to learning. This involves the teacher at the front of a classroom giving a lecture, and expecting the student to regurgitate it later on a test. Sound familiar? Teacher centered classrooms were the norm for many of us. The problem with this approach to learning is not all students learn in a lecture focused setup. Many people need to have the material presented in different ways; this allows them time to processes, and really understand the material. I am going to show you how taking into account multiple intelligences, and using different teaching approaches, other than the traditional teacher centered approach,
The short-term and long-term benefits of a smaller class size are many as you have read. The benefits attributed to class size are improving the students learning abilities, improving on teacher/student relationship, and student to student relationships, communication in and out of the classroom, the positive effect on discipline, and increases test scores. Smaller class sizes are one of the most important things in schooling and are not taken fully advantage of, but should be used more often than it is. There are obviously more affects from class size that remain unseen to the human eye.
...gnificant research for educators to know and that if used properly it could, and would, increase the learning in a classroom.
Academic excellence in a middle grades school is much more than the ability to deliver test scores that are above state average. Academic excellence is the ability to excel in all dimensions of curriculum, instruction, and assessment and the ability to "challenge all students to use their minds well" (National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform, 2016). A middle grades school establishes academic excellence through a curriculum aligned with high academic standards and college and work expectations (Manning & Bucher, 2012). The instruction should be based on appropriate grade-level standards, while using a balance of formative assessment and summative assessment (AMLE, 2010). The Schools to Watch rubric that is used in determining what
Behavior, another huge key to why classes should be smaller. When you have an over crowded room you have more racket causing kids not to be able to listen. I personally dislike
Now smart students should choose what class to go to, because they can be at a higher grade level learning , while the others ones still learning their grade and they can get bettter and be like the other smart kids. No, the class size don't affect the class , but a little bit becaus ewhen other and more students come in they won't have no seat and they'll have to seat on the floor. We also have bad computers that barely can work that's why we got chrome books which are better than the old broken torn down
Class size makes a huge impact on how the student learns. Along with many other things, there is more to the amount of kids in class than most people think. The quality one on one time is affected. Along with that, important questions that the students needs clarity on from the teacher might not be able to be answered because so many other students are in the room asking their own question. Students learn in their own ways. Teachers have to be flexible to how their students learn and in order to do that they need to know their students on a personal level. When class sizes are large, it effects students in negative ways in their learning.
Have you ever thought about how you con achievement high grades? In general, all students whatever their level hope to pass all their classes and get high grades. Actually, there are a lot of steps that you can follow them to be successful in your classes , and they depend on students' abilities. However, For me the most three steps to get high grades in your classes are minting healthy, putting a schedule to help you arrange your study, and doing all your assignment and take more practices.
...ges face with attrition, these positive impressions may help decrease drop-out rates.” (Rethinking the Classroom:Spaces Designed for Active Learning and Engaged Learning and Teaching, 2015) The room I was in was large and cold. A college could transform this element by only holding large classes in large rooms and teaching smaller classes in smaller rooms or library rooms.
Classroom sizes, what’s the average size, how does it affect the students, the teachers? What are the advantages of having smaller classrooms? Many people don’t think of this as a major issue, but the fact of the matter is that this affects generations and generations of our country and it shouldn’t be an issue taken too lightly. Classroom sizes not only affect the way a student learns but as well as how the teachers structures their lesson plans. They might have to leave out or prolonged classroom lessons. The attention span of a student varies from size as classroom as well.