Class sizes in high school should be smaller - Essay Example

sizes in high school should be smaller Jennifer Johnstone Ms. Leroux-Simurda ENG4U March 17, sizes in high school should be smaller The academic system, especially at lower levels, faces a relative scarcity of facilities and resources as compared to the high demand for their use. This has forced sharing of the available resources among students in organized classes. One teacher attends to a number of students in a class while the students share the available facilities in the learning process.

There are however, fears that large classes with many students compromise quality of education and hence classes should be smaller but other opinions oppose reduction of class sizes because of associated strain. I, in this paper, defend the position that class sizes in high school should be reduced. Class size is one of the identified factors to quality of education and stakeholders have always advocated for strategic approaches to ensuring a balance between small sizes and availability of resources.

Legislative policies have for example been made in different states and districts to restrict class sizes to small numbers but ensuring small classes remain a challenge because of scarcity of resources. This has often forced many schools to expand classes in order to meet the increasing demand for education in an environment that even government allocations to public learning institutions cannot sustain small class sizes despite the assumption that the size of a class is inversely proportional to the quality of its management and the quality of rendered services.

One of the arguments for small class sizes is the fact that it improves a student’s performance, especially at lower academic levels. This effect of size is significant to the academic system because there are only a few established strategies for improving students’ performance. Only three alternatives exist to reduced class size and the relatively lower level of strain on students identifies the strategy’s advantage. The students, for example, do not have to work harder when their classes becomes smaller.

Empirical results have also supported the position that small class sizes improve student’s ability to excel in their academic endeavours. Studies from regions such as Tennessee and Wisconsin among other regions show that at K-3rd grade, students in reduced class sizes respond better to academic expectations than those in classes with large number of students. The students who learn in small sized classes “score higher on tests, receive better grades, and exhibit improved attendance” (Classsizematters, 1).

These, being reliable indicators of academic performance, means that reduced class sizes improves quality of education among students. Reducing class size, especially at the lower grades, also helps in minimizing performance deviation among students in a class. This is because of students’ different levels of motivation to learn that induces deviations in performance, even though learning under similar environments. Students from poor families and minority ethnicities particularly have stronger intrinsic motivational factors than those from average or esteemed backgrounds.

A small class however allows for reduction on the academic gap because teachers are able to identify with each student and to moderate more teaching and counselling efforts towards those students who do not perform well. Consequently, reduced class sizes ensure uniformity by identifying students who are weak in class and improving on their performance. Another argument for reduced class sizes is the diversified learning skills among students that challenge learning processes. The diversity means that a teacher may have to teach a concept from different perspectives so that all students can understand and this relates to different aspects of class size.

A smaller class size means a less diversified environment and effective learning is possible with just a few teaching styles. Teachers therefore have easy time and are more efficient as compared to the situation in a large class in which a teacher has to repeat a concept, a process that may lead to loss of interest, in the learning process, among students and even the teacher. A teacher in a small class size is also able to identify with each of the students’ learning style and therefore can apply moderate learning processes to accommodate the students and have sufficient time to pay attention to each student’s need (Classsizematters, 1).

Some opinions have however opposed small classes because of two reasons that emanates from the need for extra resources. They argue that small classes require an increase in number of teachers to handle the classes and due to scarcity of qualified teachers may to employment of unqualified personnel to fill the gap. The higher need for resources also has cost implications on different stakeholders (Greatschools, 1). Even though opponents of small class sizes identify a valid reason, in scarcity of resources, against reduced sizes, it is the responsibility of some stakeholders such as the government and parents to provide for such services and the stakeholders, especially the government, has the potential to ensure provision of the resources.

Quality of education to all students is however, an important issue to the student’s future economic and social stability and should be guaranteed for a sustainable productive society. I therefore conclude that class sizes should be reduced, as much as possible, to ensure academic success towards a brighter future of the young generation and of the general economy. Works cited Classsizematters. “The benefits of smaller classes.” Class Size Matters. N.d. Web. March 17, 2013. < http://www.

classsizematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/benefits-of-CSR-6-10.pdf >. Greatschools. “Class size: Issues to consider.” Greatschools. N.d. Web. March 17, 2013. < http://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/defining-your-ideal/618-consider-class-size.gs >.