Sunday, July 7, 2013

Student Teacher Ratio in Schools

As we all know it, class sizes tend to increase more and more every school year thinking the advantage would be helping a child participate in learning.....well, not really.  The average class size consists of 15:1 with 17:1 being the most. The more there are students in a class with a teacher and assistant, their learning capabilities will be scattered into different outcomes.  When a child learns with 25 other students, their minds are not so connected to the subject being taught.  Rather, their minds float in a midst of chit chat, daydreaming, and nonsense that a teacher would not catch.  Research studies indicate that a smaller class size increases a child's learning then those who attend a larger class. 

A few of the many benefits of smaller class sizes:
  • Individual instructional time with students
  • Higher achievement for children in poverty
  • Smaller class sizes in early grades score higher in tests, improved attendance and have better grades.  
The same goes for me and working in a preschool environment.  The ratio goes from 
  • Preschool (Ages 3 and 4) at 10:1
  • Twos (Ages 20 months to 2) at 6:1
  • Toddler (Ages 1 Year to 2 yr) at 5:1
  • Infants (Ages 3 months to 1 yr) at 4:1
As a teacher, I would say that the preschool and twos program work great and that each child receives individual learning with the teacher.  In the toddler and infant programs, the teaching with toddlers at this ratio becomes easily distracted among the other children as they have a short span on interest of activities.  Infants require a great amount of bonding and caring and with 4 babies to 1 teacher, not all of them are given that adequate amount of individual learning.    
References:

http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/class-size/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/145709175/CSR-National-Fact-Sheet



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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 8, 2013 at 10:20 PM

    You make very good points in your blog. I agree with that smaller class ratios determine if a student will do well or not. Teachers can put students into groups so that they can work amongst themselves to overcome this problem. When the teacher splits activities in this way it makes it easier for her to visit individual groups and give feedback. It's a skill, but unfortunately classroom ratios are always disproportionate. I don't this method would work with little children though.

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  2. D.Q.July 8, 2013 at 10:49 PM

    Thanks Jenielle! The varying ages and minds that come along with little children are always unpredictable until you sit with them one on one. The split activities are always helpful and create a less stressful environment where they don't feel overwhelmed. I appreciate the comment!

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