Anonymous wrote:But back then, teachers weren't expected to differentiate instruction. They taught one math lesson and that's it. Yes, we did have reading groups back then but I think in my ES classes, we had 3 groups. Our teacher would read a different story with each group and then send us back to work on the questions at the end of it. Somehow we all did just fine[u].

The reason you say that or think that is because kids like my son - who struggle with learning disabilities - were completely ignored and pushed aside, and thought of as somehow undeserving of an education because why on earth would the county spend money to educate a child who would forever be "dumb" and "stupid"
Back then, if a child had LDs they were not even remotely challenged to rise above, try hard and achieve beyond what everyone thought they were capable of. Either they "got" the material or they didn't. If they didn't, they were held back, made a mockery of, their self esteems were trashed and they ended up in low-paying hourly jobs for the rest of their lives. THAT IS WHY you think that "somehow we all did just fine". You idiot.

Anonymous wrote:Op, whether a teacher can be effective with that many kids is a different question.

OP here, and I understand that, but it seems like it would be more difficult for even the best teacher to do their best when faced with so many students. But my children aren't in that situation, so of course that's just speculation. But really, my question was just about class sizes in general.

In the 70s in Catholic school we had 40. I learned nothing.

One of my 6th grade classes had 40 kids in it and not everyone had a desk unless someone was sick. This was in 1984 at Chevy Chase ES, the year after they closed Rollingwood for low enrollment and sent those kids to CCES.

Op, whether a teacher can be effective with that many kids is a different question.

OP here, and thanks for the responses. I have a hard time imagining how a teacher can be effective with so many kids in class, and I'm surprised there's not a limit where they open another class up. But I guess budget cuts and space and all of that factor in as well.

My third grade class has 27 students in 6 reading groups. Some read on a Kindergarten level and some read on a 5th grade level. It's not the number of students in the class that makes it difficult--it's the time needed to adequately prepare for the differentiation that's required. Plus juggling schedules with all the other service providers like ESOL, speech and special Ed.

But back then, teachers weren't expected to differentiate instruction. They taught one math lesson and that's it. Yes, we did have reading groups back then but I think in my ES classes, we had 3 groups. Our teacher would read a different story with each group and then send us back to work on the questions at the end of it. Somehow we all did just fine.

Anonymous wrote:We had 33 in class in a W pyramid elementary in 1969.

Low class size ought to be a goal, but nothing new here.

There were 33 students in my third-grade class in 1975, in a public-school system that thought well of itself. One teacher, no aides.

We had 33 in class in a W pyramid elementary in 1969.

Low class size ought to be a goal, but nothing new here.

So I guess I should be happy with 22.

Absolutely we have 31 in 4th grade.

I have not heard of it but no one can be up on all the schools. I think the highest I saw at my ES was 29.

Yes, that's more than possible.

I heard this third-hand, so I wanted to see if it could possibly be true. Are there class sizes in upper elementary school that are that large?