Gus Wirth wrote:
Andrew Lentvorski wrote:
[snip]
Actually, that's not true. There is a repeatable formula, and it's
straightforward. Improve the student:teacher ratio--it's the only one
shown to actually work. However, you have to start doing things like
doubling the number of teachers. Nobody seems to be willing pay for
that--so all the "improve our schools" is empty rhetoric.
The student:teacher ratio is another myth that doesn't bear up to actual
facts. Other countries, such as Japan, have higher ratios than we do but
their students do much better. Find another cause.
Bad comparison. I have already pointed out that our schools do just as
well as any other country's schools when you control for socioeconomic
factors.
STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AS A FUNCTION OF CLASS SIZE AND PUPIL-TEACHER RATIO
https://dspace.emich.edu:8443/dspace/bitstream/1970/205/2/diss_EdD_06_BeckerR_1.pdf
One thing that is pointed out in this study that I would not have
expected is that "Class Size (CS)" has very little correlation with
"Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR)." That's kinda mind boggling--it points to a
whole lot of certified teachers not actually doing teaching.
Achievement improvement goes with Class Size rather than Pupil-Teacher
Ratio. It also points out that the intervention is better earlier
rather than later and that you have to keep it up for several years or
it slips away. However, once you get it "burned in", as it were, it
persists through high school.
It's a reasonably new study (2006) with some good data.
Aside: I keep setting the followup to -kooler but for some reason things
keep getting sent to -list. Anybody know why? Let's see if this one takes.
-a
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