ideal student/teacher ratio for younger grades?

[Anonymous]

what's your ideal student/teacher ratio for younger grades (1-3)? the MCPS elementary school we're districted to has 24 kids in a class in those grades, while the private schools are more like 12 kids. i know there are aides, so it's not like one teacher is dealing alone with 24 kids, but do the smaller classes in the private schools really make that much of a difference for the average kid?

[Anonymous]

Depends on the kid, the class, and the teacher.

Anecdotally, one of the most productive and joyful years my DC had was in the largest class any of my kids have ever been in -- it was a great group of kids and a phenomenal teacher. Also anecdotally, the smallest class for the same kid was a disaster year because he didn't click with the teacher and was tortured by a classmate.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. In kindergarten, my ideal class size is about 15. I have had as many as 30 kindergarteners, all by myself, no aide, no parent help, all ESL, poor and lots of undiagnosed special needs. I've had friends who've had as many as 40. I did it and my kids well. But it was really, really hard and if there'd been half as many, I can't imagine what we could've done. In grades 1-3, I think the limit should be 20. In fact, I personally think there needs to be hard and fast laws around class sizes. Many school districts cannot bargain (unions) over class sizes and this is a detriment to children.
I have never seen a private school with only 12, but that would be a cakewalk job (for me).

[Anonymous]

1/7

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here. In kindergarten, my ideal class size is about 15. I have had as many as 30 kindergarteners, all by myself, no aide, no parent help, all ESL, poor and lots of undiagnosed special needs. I've had friends who've had as many as 40. I did it and my kids well. But it was really, really hard and if there'd been half as many, I can't imagine what we could've done. In grades 1-3, I think the limit should be 20. In fact, I personally think there needs to be hard and fast laws around class sizes. Many school districts cannot bargain (unions) over class sizes and this is a detriment to children.
I have never seen a private school with only 12, but that would be a cakewalk job (for me).

The reason public schools can't have a hard and fast rule is because population size changes and schools have only so many physical rooms. You can't turn kids away because they are required by law to be in school.

A family member moved to a district that had a registration date cut off as an attempt to cap class size and they were forced to choose home schooling with a subsidy or send each of their kids to different schools and two of them to separate schools each an hour away that had an open seat. That policy is a lawsuit waiting to happen. In most places, especially in a high poverty area, this is simply not feasible.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you can have a hard and fast law on class sizes. If the limit if 20 in primary and the 21st student moves into the neighborhood, the district could be obligated to hire a second full time teacher to co-teach that classroom.

[Anonymous]

15-18

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you can have a hard and fast law on class sizes. If the limit if 20 in primary and the 21st student moves into the neighborhood, the district could be obligated to hire a second full time teacher to co-teach that classroom.

+1. They just hire another teacher. Might be out of conformance for a month or two, but there is no reason schools can't have a hard cap on class size.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you can have a hard and fast law on class sizes. If the limit if 20 in primary and the 21st student moves into the neighborhood, the district could be obligated to hire a second full time teacher to co-teach that classroom.

Yup. If small s/t ratios were a priority in public schools, our funding would reflect that. They aren't, so it doesn't.