Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments Class size

I do think that a big class size can work well. In our very highly-rated public school system, all four of my kids have been in bigger and smaller classrooms (and yes, over 30). My two oldest are in college now, and honestly, what has made the difference more than class size OR teacher is the principal. Having a principal who advocates for differentiation and acceleration has been key. That way, it works EVERY year, not just the year you get a small class or a good teacher. My PG dd20 got little-to-no differentiation. My ds9 is in 3rd grade and is working out of the 6th grade math book, after being put into the 5th grade regular math class and finishing the work. The principal worked with the gifted coordinator and the classroom teacher and came up with a plan from "Developing Math Talent" to help our youngest grow in math. That made more of a difference than a small class!

Here are my thoughts about what you need to know:
1) what is the state cutoff for class size. What happens if they go over in November? Will they split the classes, add an aide, etc??
2) How welcome are parent volunteers? My ds11's 4th grade class had 32 kids but the teacher had tons of differentiation and parent volunteers every single day for core subjects.
3) Can your dd subject accelerate to a different grade for any subjects?
4) With only one class, how is differentiation handled? Can your dd do independent projects? Can she have a mentor? Can she get *different*-not extra- work?
5) if your dd is on a 504/IEP plan, can you meet the case manager? How are special needs handled? Can you talk to the potential teacher to get his/her take on things?
6) If your dd thinks that school is a waste of time, also check things like homework policy, "busy" work, etc... One of the things my boys love about our current school is that homework is limited and rarely busywork. If you do well on spelling, there are no "packets" of work (if you start to fail, then there are). If you know the math, it's okay to say, "this was really easy, so I just did the first three problems, and then I felt like I knew it." There's a lot of latitude for good students.

As far as homeschooling, I do think it can work wonders, but I wouldn't do it just because you feel you have to. Your dd can go to school and do a very minimal amount of "extra" at home and still come away with a lot. Some days my sons get socialization, listening and orchestra out of the day, but that's okay (most days they do learn :)). I honestly know it wouldn't work for me to homeschool and I think we'd all kill each other... well, no, my kids are better-natured than me. I'd be the screaming lunatic.

Hang in there and go to the tour with an open mind. I know class size is important, but it's not all there is. A good school with bigger classes might trump a smaller disinterested school.
Good luck- Theresa

I'm with you. It will never be my first choice, just keeping the option open if all else fails. We live in Canada and in our province there are only class size caps on grades P-3. At this school, the current grade 3 class is split into a 2/3 class and a 3/4 class. Once the cap ends, they all get shoved together. I have never heard of a class that size in our area... EVER! Thank you for the questions suggestions, as well. She has ADHD accomodations but not a formal IEP because it was deemed that she didn't 'need' one.

This new principal seems very eager and excited to find a way to motivate her. Crossing fingers that the feeling lasts. I am discovering that very few people want to help the underachieving smart child. Grade skipping is not an option because all of her achievement scores (except reading and math reasoning) are only slightly better than average. Frustratingly, she just won't show what she knows. I will ask to meet with her teacher for next year and try to get a sense as to what life for a 2E in a large class will be like for DD.

My DD is in a class of 11 and has received almost no differentiation at all. You'd think that small class size would help, but it appears not to.

My kids are in a school that has 32 kids in a class. The limit is supposed to be 30 but there are classes that have 32. There is a teacher and an aide though in the lower grades. It's not the class size you need to worry about, it's how well the teacher is with that class size. My one child's teacher is phenomenal and what she can do with a class this size amazes me! Every child has differentiated curriculum. I don't know how she does it. The other classes work well also. I also am in one of these classes all week and it's not an issue. The ones that need help, get it, the ones that don't, get work more at their level. Don't let it worry you too much.

Around here, the class sizes may go up to the mid 20s or so, but they would have an aide for the earlier grades. I think that a class size over 30, with a single teacher, would decrease the likelihood of providing certain types of differentiation, e.g. curriculum compacting, but might not affect others so much.

My worries, exactly. School tour is tomorrow morning. Crossing my fingers that the new teacher is enthusiastic, organized and flexible.

The tour went well today. DD's anxiety was pretty high, but the principal and vice-principal were great with her. They arranged a for a group of girls in her grade to give her a tour of the school. She got to meet her teacher for next year and she seems really nice (so far anyway!).

My friend, who teaches at the school and has an autistic son in the same grade, pulled me aside to talk about the class size. She said to keep voicing our displeasure because she thinks they are reconsidering having just the one class now that DD will be joining. It may be 'too much' for one teacher with DD and her son in a class of that size. We silently high-fived for having high-needs kids. Here's hoping!

On another note, the principal managed to convince DD to switch to the new school for the last three weeks of school (but return to old school on last day for report card). She REALLY needs to just go to the school so she can stop stressing about it. I think they want to get a feel for her for next year, which is a-okay by me.

Just a quick update. DD loves her new school. She was put in a 3/4 split for the last three weeks and she is really enjoying it. The teacher is young and keen and when I spoke with her said that DD could do any of the grade 4 work she felt like. She also arranged to have an extra keyboard made available to DD so she could type whatever she needed to. Something to be said for the flexibility that occurs at the end of the school year. Let's just hope it extends to the new year!

On an 'I'm getting grey hair' note, DD is very excited to finally be taking a school bus... and more so because there is a 'super cute' grade 4 boy who sits next to her and chats her up.