Reply to How big is too big for a K class?

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[quote=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. [/quote]

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