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: BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog

Size does matter

USA Today asserts what has long been discussed around the chalkboard: class size does affect student learning. BoardBuzz has suspected this all along (perhaps because we've been reading the research), and our friends at the Center for Public Education have done their homework on the subject too. The article states,

Breaking up large classes into several smaller ones helps students, but the improvements in many cases come in spite of what teachers do, new research suggests. New findings from four nations, including the USA, tell a curious story. Small classes work for children, but that's less because of how teachers teach than because of what students feel they can do: Get more face time with their teacher, for instance, or work in small groups with classmates. "Small classes are more engaging places for students because they're able to have a more personal connection with teachers, simply by virtue of the fact that there are fewer kids in the classroom competing for that teacher's attention," says Adam Gamoran of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who analyzed the findings.

Fair enough. But BoardBuzz would argue that while the new research again shows that small classes help students feel more engaged, if schools really want the most bang for their buck, they should also provide professional development to help teachers modify instruction to the small setting. What are your thoughts on class size? Leave a comment and tell us about it. For more information on class size and how it affects student learning, check out the research at Center for Public Education.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on March 25, 2008 (boomark / email).