How big are classes in high school?
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Anonymous
| I looked up the averages and it seemed to be around 25 yet teachers are claiming that they don't have time to grade or provide feedback because they have 160 exams. 25 doesn't seem that much higher then when I went to school yet back then teachers did assign papers, grade then and provide feedback. Something doesn't add up. |
Anonymous
| Um, they have 160 different kids throughout 5 periods. Most of my kids classes have 27-31 kids. |
Anonymous
|
DH teaches Spanish and has more than one class with 40. The rest are in the low 30s.
OP, a high school teacher with only 25 students per class would still have 125 exams to grade. I think the teachers who have posted here have often said that they absolutely would provide personal one-on-one feedback, if requested by the student. But it seems like most of the posts here are about parents wanting feedback, not students. |
Anonymous
| My son's math class has 34 students. |
Anonymous
|
Here's why it's important to dig deeper into the numbers. Sure the average (mean) class size might be 25 in a high school, but the mean is lowered by classes that are rightfully very small i.e. Special Ed, etc. Some teachers don't even teach (Staff Development Teacher) yet they are included in the total number of teachers in the school thus lowering the average class size.
it's better to look at the median class size, but unfortunately MCPS doesn't publish that data, probably because it would be embarrassing. The vast majority of classes in my high school have 31-32 students, hence we teach 150-160 students per semester. |
Anonymous
My daughter's 3rd grade math class has 33 kids. It is so ridiculous. |
Anonymous
It will only get worse. I am so glad my kids are (almost) out of MCPS. |
Anonymous
| In MCPS my DC had 30-36 in most of his classes. I think 36 is the mandated top (maybe it's 34?). His school is overcrowded and most classes, especially the APs are at full capacity. He doesn't mind the large classes at all and says there is plenty of class discussion. |
Anonymous
| When my kids were in ES, classes were no bigger than 25 kids. Usually low 20s... That was only 10 years ago. |
Anonymous
You're just an idiot. sorry to have to "enlighten" you on the obvious |
Anonymous
| It really depends on the class as well. PE, band, and arts classes typically have much higher numbers of students. My son's AP and honors classes barely crack 20, and he's in a slightly over capacity school. There is a max number of students for academic classes, but actual numbers vary widely from school to school and class to class. |
Anonymous
ES teacher here. I would estimate that 3-4 of my 5 weekly planning periods of 45 mins each are taken up by meetings. I usually plan at home and get to school early to grade. I have 34 students this year. If I had to write extensive comments on all of their assignments, I might as well just live at school. If they want to raise our salaries so we spend more time grading, that works for me. I "volunteer" 2-4 hrs per day trying to do planning and grading. For this, I earn $50K. |
Anonymous
| My DD is at Churchill. All of her classes have less than 20. Same with her friends. Smaller classes = better. Feel sorry for rest of county with 30+. |
Anonymous
Mine is at Whitman and AP classes are all at the max. The county pretty much requires that in the staffing allocations. Is your DD in on level or special Ed classes? |
Anonymous
| 19:06, she is not special ed. All AP or honors level classes. |