Do large class sizes in FCPS make you consider paying $25K for private?
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Anonymous
| 11:12. Parochial school near us isn't quite as small, but it would be smaller. Are your kids having a better experience? You may be correct on the 32 number because I read somewhere that Spring Hill had 31 in a 2nd grade class before getting a new teacher. And yet 30 seems to be what FCPS says is their max. |
Anonymous
| My kid is under-the-radar, no issues, easy-to-ignore, just above average. For him I think teacher student ratio is really really important especially in the lower grades. This is only the second day at the Catholic school so I'll "say so far so good". |
Anonymous
| One of my classes has 30 students. It's difficult to effectively teach reading to that many in a class. |
Anonymous
|
So, DD's 4th grade class has 19 students. Is that considered large?
Signed, Confused by the question |
Anonymous
Well if you think 19 is the equivalent of 30, then I guess it would be large. |
Anonymous
Which school? |
Anonymous
No, 19 is quite small. My now 11th grader's 5th grade classes had 33 and and 34 children in them. That was too big on many levels - physical size of classroom, ambient noise, teacher observations..... IME, when you start getting closer to 30 in ES, it becomes a problem. IME 25-28 maximizes efficiency without compromising the students' experiences. |
Anonymous
|
Kind of agree. I think a 25:1 ratio for all classes in a grade is fine with it fluxuating up and down by 2-3. Beyond that, the room gets too packed and it just gets too chaotic for learning and not enough time with the teacher. I don't understand why every class in every grade at our school is over 27 students with many at or over 30. I can see them having a problem with one grade, but don't understand why it's a problem at every grade level. This is why I think FCPS needs to look at their student teacher class ratio again. According to the state, it seems they aren't even allowed to have these levels. It's still supposed to be a ration of 25 to 1 in grades 4-6. How do they get away with such different standards?
Virginia's Standards of Quality are constitutionally mandated, minimum requirements governing all public school divisions in the commonwealth. As the statutory base used to determine state funding, SOQs are enforceable law, not just recommendations. They're also quite specific about the maximum class size allowed under the Virginia Code: "24 [students] to one [teacher] in kindergarten, with no class being larger than 29 students ... 24 to one in grades one, two, and three with no class being larger than 30 students ... 25 to one in grades four through six, with no class being larger than 35 students." Fairfax County Public Schools appears to have violated these specific caps when it crammed 37 students into a third grade math class and 38 students into a fourth grade math class at Wolftrap Elementary. This happened even though FCPS' fiscal 2013 budget sets aside $11 million per year to fund up to 250 extra teaching positions to prevent such overcrowding. |
Anonymous
| They get away with it because they average the class size over the entire countywide system. The Title I schools bring down the average to within state regulations. So, it always looks like whiny rich parents complaining about class sizes. |
Anonymous
| Is that legal? I don't see anywhere where the law says it can be "county wide". |
Anonymous
| Is it worth getting the state legislature involved? Seems like Barbara Comstock was working on something. Does anyone know the status? |
Anonymous
Do you see any relevant law? |
Anonymous
| Relevant to what? Not understanding. |
Anonymous
| 7:40 Reading is my primary concern with large class sizes as well. There are 30 students in my child's 2nd grade. How is the teacher going to be able to discuss books with all of them? |
Anonymous
They do it in small group sessions of 5 or 6 students at a time. The students rotate through various things. |