Classroom sizes

[bucket o' butter]

I know a lot of school systems are in a financial bind across the country and have had to make many, many budget cuts. Unfortunately, including teachers. Our class sizes are just starting to come out around here and I am curious if it is like this across the country. One of our local schools will have 29 kindergarten students per classroom with no classroom aides. They will have a tutor in the classroom, but that is just for students who need extra help. Grades 1-3 right now are sitting with 26-27 students per classroom with three teachers sharing one aide. At a friends school, the kdg. classes have 33 children per class. Normally, around here, there are about 20-21 children per early childhood classroom, so this is a big change for us. Unfortunately, it is the children who will suffer because of these cuts. How can one teacher spend any kind of individualized time with students when he/she has 30 students?

 

[kamik86]

Does that even meet the legal adult-to-child ratios in place for that age? I know with the camp I used to work with it was something like 10 children per adult for the youngest campers (who were all going into 1st grade) and the camp required it to be more like 6. Do schools have a special way to get around this? I always thought this was one of the reasons why the youngest grades always had the teachers aides.

 

[phamy76]

My son is going into 5th grade.
One class is 12, the other has 13.



Yes, this is a public school.

(Y2K babies).

 

[ChrisinNJ]

I was worried about class sizes this year because of the budget. We haven't gotten our class placement letters yet, but I spoke to the principal the other day while volunteering in the school, and we still have 4 teachers/sections at each grade level just as we did last year. Our class sizes last year were 20-23 students per class, so I am expecting the same this year.

Our district made cuts other ways. They eliminated all the computer teachers, so computers will no longer be a special. They cut the number of Spanish teachers in half by teaching Spanish 1x per week rather than 2. And they cut back on elementary level guidance counselors.

 

[cvjw]

My son's class size is smaller than last year. In 4th grade, they had 4 teachers, and this year in 5th, they have 5 teachers for the same kids. Our school district made other cuts - no part time teachers anymore, they shortened the school year by a week, they changed the number of bus stops, etc. In my other son's high school, they no longer teach German as a foreign language - the german teacher was part time, so she lost her position.

 

[KJay]

Does that even meet the legal adult-to-child ratios in place for that age? I know with the camp I used to work with it was something like 10 children per adult for the youngest campers (who were all going into 1st grade) and the camp required it to be more like 6. Do schools have a special way to get around this? I always thought this was one of the reasons why the youngest grades always had the teachers aides.

In most places, schools are exempt from the teacher:child ratios you mention. Camps, child care centers, home day cares, etc. are bound by ratios based on age, but schools are not governed by the same regulations.

 

[Claroquesi]

Emerging research says the quality of the teacher is more important to student learning than the number of students in a classroom. I would want to know more about the teacher before I got too concerned.

 

[Swimalie]

We haven't started school yet but at the orientation they had for us future kindergarten parents we were told classrooms would have no more than 29 students per kindergarten room. Once a room has more than 25 students, a full-time aide is automatically put in the room. At one point all kindergarten aides were going to be cut but they were able to keep them all.

I don't know about other grades other than my neighbor, who is a 4th grade teacher, said she hit 30 students at the end of school last year.

 

[karliebug]

I have been teaching 27 years, kindergarten and first grade. The most I have had was 36 and the least 19. Our district is actually losing enrollment so teachers have been fired. Our district now tries to keep grades k-3 at about 23 students.

 

[ryka]

I am a Para in a K class. We have 6 K classes in my school and in each of the other 3 schools there are between 4 and 5 classes. We have 16 children in my class this year. That is about what every class has and all k classes have to have an aide. My class usually has 3 or 4 extra because we are inclusion and some children have one on ones.

 

[lchadwick]

My youngest 2 (K and 3rd) go to a local charter school. There are no more thabn 17 children in a classroom. Love that! When my 8YO was in 1st grade in the district-assigned elementary school, she was with 26 other kids. She couldn't understand the math and so she started acting out. When I found out there was availability at the charter school, I jumped at the chance. Within the 1st two weeks, her teacher figured out why she was acting out - the math. She was tutored and no behavior issues. This was a lifeline for us.

 

[Wildflowerz]

We're in Georgia. My daughter's in first grade and they have 19 kids in their class. Last year they had 18 in kindergarten. Oh, and this is public school.

 

[southcarolinagirl]

We have 26 in my DS's 4th grade class.

 

[ICF]

Both the 2nd grader and 5th grader have about 25 kids in their classes this year.

In other years, they've had around 20 or so.

 

[mjkacmom]

20 kids has been our max (and people here complain about classroom size...).

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

We're in central NC and the younger kids, primary and elementary schools, average about 20 students. The primary school has an assistant in each class. I don't know what kind of difference it would make to the school's budget, but most of the assistants are also bus drivers or substitute bus drivers.

The middle school classes average about 30.

 

[java]

My kindergartener will have 14 kids in his class this year. And there will be 14 in the other class- so only 28 kids coming in!! It was an off year I guess. My 2nd grader had 15 in his class but then a bunch of kids switched into his class so I have no idea how many will ultimately be in there.

On average our school keeps the class size between 14-20. And the only way there is an aide is if there is a classified child in the class.

 

[melafive]

At our school they try to make sure the younger kids have a smaller class size. My daughter had about 20 kids in her class she was in kindergarten. My son last year (4th grade) had 35. It was terrible. The teacher had little control over the class and my son fell behind. There was an aide but with no teacher qualifications. I have to agree with the previous poster about the teacher too though. While I really think his teacher was a great person I don't think he could handle the amount of kids like the other fourth grade teacher could. Looking back I should have requested the other teacher. This year they added a 4/5 split class so sizes should be okay again.

 

[clori]

My kids haven't started yet so no idea. I know there were cuts but in other areas. Last year my dd in kindergarten (full day) had 16 kids in her class and there was a full time aide. My dd's 4th grade class fluctuated a bit but most of the time had 20 kids. This is a regular public school. The local charter school has 30 kids per class and is always full due to a long waiting list.

 

[luvmy3]

My 1st grader last year had 19 and my 4th grader had 20 but they are two of the smallest grades in the school. When my dd was in the elementary her class averaged around 27, inclusion was higher at 32 (with an assistant teacher).