Class size is not the end-all-be-all when it comes to education metrics
I maintain that as a parent, the question to ask when you are looking at schools is not “What is the average class size” but “What is the professional support environment like in this school?"
Sue Hildick is a fourth generation Oregonian with a serious love of place. She works across sectors to surface pragmatic public policy solutions.
I’m an older mom of a now 12-year-old daughter. I’ve tried over the years to be “one of the moms” in the parent circles around my daughter’s school and activities. It’s never been a natural fit and was even more difficult during my years working on K-12 education while part of the Chalkboard Project. While I was soaking up the lessons of listening closely to classroom educators and school leaders in my day job, my assumptions as a parent changed completely.
As a parent, I thought the most important factor in choosing a school setting for my daughter was class size. Seemed obvious to me that a smaller group of children meant a teacher could better know each child and thus customize their instructional practices to meet the unique needs of each one. It was frustrating to live in a state with some of the highest class sizes in the county and, in addition, to see Oregon unable to embrace having more staff in classrooms as another way of trying to increase student access to the instructional skills of educators.
I also absorbed the research related to how to maximize the impact of smaller class sizes. For instance, that class size reduction needed to be deep—under 20 children—and in effect in the early years of learning—as early as grades 1-2—to make a sustainable difference.
This combination of factors was unheard of in our public school settings. It seemed to me that the optimum equation for best learning experiences just couldn’t happen in Oregon schools. As a parent, I was perplexed, frustrated, and resigned to a mindset of needing to make sure my child was seen and understood. In the alternative, she surely would be lost among the masses of her schoolmates.
Over time and through the network of educators who worked on K-12 public policy in Oregon, I began to understand that I was looking at the wrong indicator as my “gold standard” for the best schools. I learned that quality teaching rests on a foundation of strong professional supports that are co-created by the educator and school leadership; I learned that looking at the strength of the foundation of a school community was a much more important exercise than counting the chairs in the classroom.
Additionally, I learned to ask both educators and school leaders about professional development in the school. Some sample questions include:
Is the same content offered to all in a single staff development day, or is there an opportunity for a teacher to customize their professional development based on their unique needs?
Do educators have a meaningful performance review identifying growth areas?
And, do they have a voice in their professional development plan to strengthen these growth areas?
Another lesson: looking for signs of a positive learning environment for adults is critical. Certain questions can help uncover the presence of this attribute.
Is there a collective energy in the grade level or school amongst the professionals around learning together, mentoring each other, and sharing information about successful techniques with children?
Is there a sense of partnership with school leaders around teacher support and education?
Is there opportunity for advancement by taking on leadership roles in learning and development for their peers?
Is professional learning valued as an essential part of evolving one’s teaching craft to the next level?
How does a school leader know that a teacher’s practice is evolving?
In the places where the answers to the questions above are positive, you can feel a camaraderie around learning that is invigorating. Children are learning and their teachers are learning—that’s powerful stuff. In that sort of learning environment, it becomes far less important how many children are in each classroom. Teachers supported in their practice are better equipped to handle larger class sizes—they have a support networks of peers, colleagues, and other educator leaders. Moreover, they have ownership over their own professional growth and an evolving toolkit to bring to their classroom. In other words, a slightly larger class size in that environment need not result in diminished learning opportunities for students.
At the end of the day, both of these measures are important. However, they are also distinct: for one, we have the hope of replicating it and encouraging it; the other we can’t easily control.
So, I maintain that as a parent, the question to ask when you are looking at schools is not “What is the average class size” but “What is the professional support environment like in this school for the teachers?” And, to get the more complete answers, ask a teacher as well as the school leader. Their responses should tell you a lot about how learning is valued in that school.