Personal Observations: Class Size vs. Quality Instruction

Personal Observations: Class Size vs. Quality Instruction

I am not able to neatly separate my preparation and reading in the area of educational quality from my personal experience. The two sources of knowledge dovetail and flow back and forth in a highly influential manner. I certainly agree that class size is a factor in student success, and a variable that can enable or hinder the ease with which a teacher provides quality educational opportunities for her students. My teacher preparation coursework and my reading on education policy lead me to believe that them most important variables -- next to the influences of home and community -- are those under the aegis of teachers.

Teacher qualifications are a critical variable for student success. Naturally, the amount of resources available to a school, district, region, or state impact the level of quality that is provided to students through educational systems. One has only to read the writings of Jonathan Kozol to understand the substantive impact that resource availability has on the quality of education that students receive. When teachers are prepared for the subject matter and grade level they are teaching, the probability is higher that students will receive quality instruction than when teachers are not prepared for the subject matter or grade level they are teaching. When teachers are skilled practitioners, the probability is higher that students will receive quality instruction than when teachers are marginal practitioners. When teachers are engaged with their teaching and enthusiastic about their jobs, the probability is higher that students will receive quality instruction than when teachers are disengaged from their teaching and find their jobs boring or onerous.

I have worked hard to acquire the educational credentials and classroom experience that I believe gives me an edge in the classroom. My students are lucky to have me as a teacher and I am extraordinarily lucky to be able to teach the students who attend my classes. I know that I am more effective in my instruction when my class sizes are smaller. I also know from talking to and observing my students that they appreciate smaller class sizes. They report feeling less "lost" and more "assured" that they will get the help they need -- before they fall behind or before they fail. Class size is important, but in my view -- and in the opinion of many educational policy researchers -- class size is not as important as access to qualified, motivated teachers.

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