How big is too big for a K class?

[Anonymous]

My DC’s K class has one homeroom teacher and 26 kids. Is that too big? And how many do your kindergarteners have in their classes and does your homeroom teacher have an assistant? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Yes too big.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it’s too big. Ideally, classes shouldn’t be more than about 15 kids. Unfortunately, that barely happens in MCPS.

[Anonymous]

DCPS - 18 kids and an aide

Are you sure there's no aide - ive never seen a kindergarten class without an aide, especially that big.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS - 18 kids and an aide

Are you sure there's no aide - ive never seen a kindergarten class without an aide, especially that big.

I don’t think there is an aide as I have not heard my DC talk about another teacher who consistently is with them on a daily basis.

[Anonymous]

They are that big in many mcps schools. It was fine for my kids but they had excellent teachers and lots of other support staff who rotated in (paras, special educators, esol, reading specialists, plus parent volunteers).

[Anonymous]

MCPS has no actual policy on this, only suggested guidelines.

15 might be accurate at a Title 1 ES, and I think 18 for a Focus ES, but at our MCPS ES, 26 is the norm, and one of mine had 27. No teachers aides or assistants in MCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS - 18 kids and an aide

Are you sure there's no aide - ive never seen a kindergarten class without an aide, especially that big.

Ok, that's not helpful when we are talking about MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCPS - 18 kids and an aide

Are you sure there's no aide - ive never seen a kindergarten class without an aide, especially that big.

MCPS does not use kindergarten aides the way DC does. (We moved and have sent kids to K in both places.)

OP, 26 kids may be the upper limit on the recommended class size for K in MCPS. It can get bigger in 1st. Not ideal, for sure, but most of the experienced K teachers are quite used to classes of this size.

One thing to look at for next year -- how many K classes does your school have and are they all at 26 kids? If so, you may actually end up with another section in 1st if kids move into your school and they bump up over the recommended limit at the start of the year.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing. It is helpful to know the situations in other MCPS schools.

[Anonymous]

Wow. In my view it’s double what it should be.

[Anonymous]

I’m going to go against prevailing wisdom and say “it depends”.

My kids (now graduated) were in MCPS immersion classes of 25 (sized large to maximum the seats available for a program for which demand far outstripped supply). We were extremely grateful to have our kids in the class and weren’t complaining about the size. The classes benefited from outstanding teachers and from parents who prioritized education highly enough that they independently sought out academic opportunities. (At that time, MCPS didn’t notify parents about the program until it was too late to apply). On the other hand, the teachers had to communicate everything (procedures, expectations, actual instruction) in a language that most of the students didn’t understand, if they’d even heard it at all.

As a general rule of thumb, the smaller the class size, the better. Smaller classes mean that there are less students to divide the teacher’s time and attention, and that the odds are less likely that there will be serious disruptions. Ideally, each student would have a private tutor, but clearly that’s not an option. All other factors being equal, I’d say a class of 15 is preferable to one of 25, which is still preferable to one of 26.

HOWEVER, in real life, all other factors may not be equal. If your class of 26 has a great teacher, and they hire a new teacher to reduce class sizes, you may lose the great teacher and find yourself with a teacher who isn’t as effective with a class of 19 and may not be as nurturing, supportive, creative, inspiring, etc. Moreover, an extra teacher would probably mean that they’d rebalance all the classes across the grade level and not just divide your child’s class in two. If there is a student with behavior problems causing major disruptions in another class, you run the risk of being regrouped from a smoothly running, if crowded class, to one that’s dysfunctional. (Here’s a recent thread from a parent whose child’s class recently received the transfer of a disruptive student). https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1044057.page

If things are bad, reducing class sizes is probably a good idea to relieve some pressure and will probably have a positive effect. On the other hand, if things are pretty good, reducing the class sizes might have a positive effect, but you have to consider the possibility that it could have a negative effect instead.

[Anonymous]

These are the MCPS guidelines:

Classroom teacher positions for Grades K–5 are allocated based on enrollment projections to Kindergarten using a class size guideline of 24, to Grades 1–2 using a class size guideline of 25, to Grade 3 using a class size guideline of 26, and to Grades 4-5 using a class size guideline of 28. Additional classroom teacher positions are provided to focus and Title I schools to Grades K–2 using a class size guideline of 18, to Grade 3 using a class size guideline of 24, and to Grades 4-5 using a class size guideline of 26.

[Anonymous]

My kid went to RHPS which usually has some of the biggest class sizes in the county AFAICT-- probably had 26 in his K class, but he had a great teacher and it all worked (surprisingly to me) well.

[Anonymous]

Yes. 26 is big. My K kid has about 20 kids. There are 4 classes, each with about 20 kids. So they’re just a few kids above 24 in 3 classes.