About the Effects of Classroom Size on Children
There are many factors concerning classrooms that effect a child's ability to learn. These include items such as teacher quality, the overall safety of the school, and parent involvement. However, among these an important factor is how large the students class is. Classes that are too large can adversely affect a student's ability to learn.
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Academic Improvement
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According to the California Teacher's Association, smaller class sizes lead to improved academic performance. In addition to other research, the group points to a survey by the Public Policy Institute which found that five of California's largest school districts reported gains in test scores after a California law went into effect limiting class sizes for younger students. The California law limited class sizes to 20 students or less, and a study by the Tennessee Department of Education found similar results with class sizes of 17 or less.
Younger Children
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According to the website Great Schools, reduced class sizes lead to improvements in test scores and academic performance in all grade levels. However, the site notes that some of the largest gains in performance from reduced classroom sizes came from allowing younger students to learn in smaller class sizes. In long term studies, the site says that the gains of students in smaller class sizes as youths continue with them throughout their educational career when compared to students who did not have access to the smaller class sizes.
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Auxillary Benefits
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Smaller class sizes have added social benefits. Smaller class sizes, and their associated academic improvements in children, make students less likely to drop out of school later in their academic careers. This leads to reductions in crime rates, prison populations, and poverty rates. These lead to savings in tax dollars that need to be spent on law enforcement, costs associated with prison populations, and welfare expenses. It also leads to increased tax revenues, as students are more likely to find steady jobs and pay taxes on their income and the money they spend.
Problems
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While smaller classroom sizes have a number of benefits for governments and children, they are not without their costs. Smaller class sizes means that school districts need to provide not only more teachers, but more classrooms for them to teach in. Both of these cost districts and states money, which can become hard to come by in rough economic climates. In times of tight budgets, some politicians will insist on paying fewer teachers more, rather than hiring more teachers to achieve smaller class sizes.
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References
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