Educating The Masses : Education

Overcrowded schools are one of the many reasons why America is falling backwards. With high birth rates and continuous immigration flow the classroom has become overcrowded. The best way a student can learn is if the attention is not so divided. With large classrooms having over 30 students, it makes it almost impossible for a teacher to attend to each student equally. “Slavin (1989) reviewed those studies that lasted a minimum of 1 year and had 20 students or fewer. He concluded that substantial reductions in class size have a small positive effect on students” (Synopsis of Class Size Literature). Classrooms should be small enough for a teacher to perform well without divided attention. In smaller classrooms, students are recognized for their contribution and participation. Students can respect the work of their peers individually and learn from them and help maintain order. They have more time to be collaborative, work creatively, think critically and draw their own predictions. In “Every Classroom Teacher’s Dream”, Patricia Handley states that “Teachers have more opportunity for personalized assessment with students, such as individual conferencing. With a small class, teacher can maximize best teaching practices, heightening students’ academic achievement” (6). There is ample evidence on how a small classroom can improve so much.

With over 200 school closing, it is causing classrooms to be too big and become oversized. Some classrooms are so oversized that students have to sit on the floor. The oversized classrooms affects the behaviors of the teaches. Such an environment brings upon stress the teachers of providing the need for every student and running around doing extra errands that the teachers are not paid to

However, these minute problems can be fixed over time and with care. To do this, we must first start by addressing the fact that some teachers need an incentive to give more to their students. By not helping teachers out, it is highly likely that they will not give their all in order to educate students. As a result, students fall behind and can not help themselves through the system that was initially designed to weed out the weak. The education system as it is, makes it excruciatingly difficult for students to do well because they do not fit into what is required of them. Although this may be the case, the system is not broken, and in turn, it can be fixed by first addressing the fact that teachers are not as valued as they should be. Although some teachers make it their mission to educate their students, some have a hard time putting in more time than is required of them. In doing so, students cannot get extra help if they need it and eventually end up having a hard time passing. In order to fix the system, we must first deal with the small problems that could cause a large ripple if they are

According to Malcolm Gladwell chapter two, economist Caroline Hoxby did some research and found there wasn’t any significant data indicating smaller classrooms had a greater effect on a child academic learning skills. Gladwell made it a point in his story to notion details contending smaller classroom sizes are not necessarily the best learning environment.

In The New York Times “Tight Budgets Mean Squeeze in Classrooms” author Sam Dillon discusses that due to budget cuts and lack of funds, schools are being forced to put a large number of kids in one classroom ultimately damaging their learning. Everyday kids walk into class ready to learn only to find that that might not be the case. With class sizes busting out at the seams many kids are suffering and being left out. Back in the day there were very aggressive laws in place to protect class size in schools. The laws restricted how many kids there could be per teacher.

Many public school classrooms are crammed full of students, which makes not only the teacher’s job more challenging, but also damages the children’s learning experience. This is because “the smaller the class, the better individual student experience” (Lynch). In fact, a study was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) discovered that over 14% of US schools surpass their recommended capacity (Lynch). In classrooms where this is apparent, teacher-student one on one time is rarely ever possible, and a child’s understanding is limited as a result. There is no bond between the two, which also creates tension in class. The tension between a frustrated teacher and a student who does not understand a unit during the school year happens much more than expected. Also with a full class, teachers do not have the time to devote their attention to each and every student. At this day in age, children need more attention given to them than ever before in order to succeed in life, and college if they so choose to attend. It is also needed to succeed later on in life after their schooling is complete. The overpopulated classrooms are making it harder for teachers to achieve

Legislators, teachers and parents produce many groups in America 's society that are most interested in improving primary education. These actors recognize the importance of improving primary education to create a more stable, knowledgeable and successful society for all of the country. One highly debated issue in education reform is the student to teacher ratio in classrooms. Many parents and teachers want to see a decrease in class sizes so that students receive more individualized education and become more socially developed. Conversely, a large sum of Americans, mainly government officials, are not convinced that reducing class sizes will lead to the outcome that activists and parents are imagining. Student education at a primary level affects all of society, either directly or indirectly. America is highly concerned with education reform, and decreasing the amount of students per class in grades K through three is a logical solution to better the education provided to American students. Class size reductions cause for many positive effects such as more individualized learning, better developed social skills and a more educated youth leading to a more successful society in the future. Education reform can best be achieved through decreasing the number of students in classes, especially at the primary level.

First of all, the teachers will have more room to interact, when we get up and move we both get more out of the lessons. Second, many students cheat on standardized tests. If the room is bigger teachers, will be able to spread out students so they will not be able to cheat off of each other to try to get a higher grade. Third, many kids will want to come to school if they won’t have to sit behind a desk all day.

A small class is consider to be twenty students or less. In smaller schools there are not as many students so the teachers will be able to help the students more one on one. Students can have a better idea of the content that they are learning and even if they don’t understand then the could talk to the teacher to have a better understanding. In a recent study, students and teachers were randomly assigned to a small class, with an average of 15 students, or a regular class, with an average of 22 students. This large reduction in class size (7 students, or 32 percent) was found to increase student achievement by an amount equivalent to about 3 additional months of schooling four years later. Also, increasing the pupil/teacher ratio in the U.S. by one student would save at least $12 billion per year in teacher salary costs alone, which is roughly

In every teacher or parent survey the number one thing that most parents and teachers are worried about is class size because most adults want their student or kid to have a small class size so then he or she gets all the support they can. New York city schools, has said class size and teaching improvement is something very important because having a big amount of students in one class will be a distraction for others. Many schools agree. Overcrowding schools is a big

Reduced class sizes can show better behavior in students and earlier improvement of grades.In smaller classes, teachers have a better chance to get to know the student more, so there are less chances that the student will feel like need to act and lash out. Since the teacher and pupil will get to know each other better, the teacher can take the time to discover what areas the student needs help in and can make more of an effort to help the student fix those needs in a smaller, less crowded environment. (Rios, Robert J).According to a survey done by Mitchell and Mitchell in 1999, students in grades K-3 that were placed in smaller classes scored better on achievement tests in reading and mathematics than students in large classes did. Having smaller classes in kindergarten through third grade creates the most academic improvement in students. Reading and Mathematics are the subjects that the most information is retained in that sticks with students in older years. Also, students of minority

Smaller classes promote greater interaction between the instructor and students, allowing more opportunities for one-on-one help, and students being able to receive hands-on training using the professional equipment that will be used, once employed.

While placed in a big classroom can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. According to the text, Does Class Size Matter? Teachers, parents of students, and the principal of New York’s Forest Hills High School, believes that big classrooms

It is pretty apparent that in America, and elsewhere, most parents and general adults want what is best for their children in terms of education. This mindset can be seen reflected in the legislative aspects of our education system; there are many incentives pushing through the school boards and legislatures of our nation in order to attempt to further refine the education system. This is important as it allows us to refine traditional American education in order to improve upon it, and one of these attempt refinements and improvements has to deal with the subject of class size. For many people, large classroom sizes are a spawning ground for many issues with the education system: high distraction in the classroom, teacher inefficiency, among a plethora of others. Although it may seem regressive to favor small classes over bigger, more potentially diverse classes, small class sizes are more beneficial for education in that it is less distracting for the students and raises the possibility of staying focused, it potentially raises teacher-student relationships, and it allows for better results and better statistics coming from these smaller classes.

In addition, insufficient funding of schools along with quality teachers that are retiring are some of the problems we encounter in the education system. In some parts of the United States, there is a lack of adequate access to materials for reading and writing due to budget constraints. In Allen D. Kanner’s article, “Today’s Class Brought to You By…” he mentioned that with the baby boomers retiring, and a high turnover among new teachers, who are asked to teach subjects they are not properly trained for, are causing difficult classroom situations (280). Similarly, Governor Jerry Brown’s statement last January 11 pointed out that K-12 education has ‘borne the brunt’ of the state’s budget cuts with more than $18 billion in cuts over the last three years. This resulted in larger class sizes, programs are cut, and over 30,000 educators laid off. These teachers are very valuable in our society because they provide our youth with the knowledge and social experiences that they will use to better their future and the future of the entire world. As a student, I have suffered the consequences of triple digit fee increases and the lack of available classes offered. The high cost of education has put the burden not only on the students, and many of their parents, but educators, as