Essay On Class Size

1063 Words3 Pages

Stephanie Robinson srobinson11@gmail.com 3/31/2014
Big Spending for Small Classes: Is It Worth It? – Literature Review

Introduction
There is much debate surrounding the topic of class sizes as they relate to student achievement. While advocates posit that smaller class sizes will allow teachers to provide more individualized attention to each student, critics believe that the funding needed to hire more teachers is not worth the meager gains students make in smaller classes
Although reducing class size is an expensive measure, Americans overwhelmingly support it. Dee and West (2011) report that, according to a study by Howell, West, and Peterson, “77% of American adults would prefer to see new educational dollars spent on reducing class sizes rather than on increasing teacher salaries” (p. 23). Americans value small class sizes, and , in an economy in which every dollar counts, the debate over class sizes takes greater priority as opposing sides push to spend funds on different policy initiatives.
The purpose of this literature review is to determine whether allocating funds to hire more teachers to have smaller class sizes is a valid use of school district funding. This review includes perspectives on the benefits for teaching, student behavior, and student academic achievement. This review presents arguments in favor of smaller class sizes because, based on the research and evidence, it is clear that smaller class sizes positively influence teacher practice, student behavior and motivation, and, most importantly, student achievement.

Teaching Benefits
Small class sizes positively influence teachers’ teaching. When Blatchford, Bassett, Goldstein, and Martin (2003) analyzed the effects of class sizes on teacher pract...

... middle of paper ...

...l academic program. The Tennessee STAR Project was the only study to have a control group and so was the only truly scientific study, allowing researchers to compare groups of students; the other studies were based on existing classes and did not offer a valid comparison.
Despite the evidence showing that small class sizes are better, many public schools have average class sizes of at least 30 students in each class. This situation is not working; President Obama has set a goal for the country to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, but the U.S. is steadily falling behind other industrialized countries. In order to increase student achievement and help reach President Obama’s 2020 goal, school districts should consider reallocating funds from other educational initiatives to programs to hire more teachers to reduce class sizes.

Open Document