The National Education Association recommends a class size of 15 students, especially in the early years of education. However, according to the U.S. Department of Education, the average U.S. class size in 2010 was 25 students. To many, this situation seems like an obvious disadvantage to the students in the larger classrooms. But large classes are actually far more beneficial than they may appear.
Since the early 1990’s, California has spent about $1.5 billion a year trying to reduce class sizes. The expense isn’t limited to California; according to Time magazine, reducing class sizes costs 2.26 percent of per-pupil spending annually.
Right now, FCPS’s limited budget means it can’t afford to hire more staff members or create the space required for smaller classes.
The California Teachers Association found that in the L.A. school district, the positive effects of small class sizes were more pronounced among “high-need,” or economically disadvantaged, children than among children living in richer neighborhoods. The majority of Fairfax County’s student body is not high-need in the same way that L.A. children are; Fairfax has been ranked among the highest-income counties in the nation for quite a few years now. As a result, the county might not benefit significantly from having smaller class sizes.
According to Time, class size is overshadowed by another factor: teacher effectiveness. Students would be “better off with 28, 30 or maybe even more kids and a great teacher” than with a small class and a lower-quality teacher.
And the Washington Post points out that after California’s class-size reduction program took effect, the increased need for teachers meant that as many as one in seven lacked full credentials. Reducing class sizes is not worth losing high-quality teachers; doing so will only further harm students’ education.
Additionally, a study cited by Minnesota State University found that “class size seems to have little or no impact on the acquisition and even the retention of basic course material.” Students in large and small classes performed equally well on exams taken both during the classes and two years later.
MSU’s research also found that better students usually take smaller classes, and “removing this difference in populations explains much of the better performance by students in smaller classes.”
Overall, small class sizes are not worth the price that they cost to maintain. Schools should focus on attracting high-quality, fully credentialed teachers, especially for economically advantaged students. The benefits of small classes, especially here in Fairfax, do little to outweigh the hit that the budget would have to take.