[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> On the possibility that Mike Atherton�s blood pressure has fallen dangerously
> low, I offer the following quote from AFT president Sandra Feldman�s column
> in the NY Times:
>
> <<Today, of course, almost no one disputes the rock-solid research that
> supports the commonsense argument that teachers can teach better and students
> can learn more, in smaller classes.>>
>
> Maybe Minneapolis Board of Education members are not living in a fantasy
> world after all...
Let's think about this for a while. We have three sources of information:
the U.S. Department of Education, the Rand Corporation, and the president
of the AFT (American Federation of Teachers). The first two have cited
extensive studies that show that *if* there is an effect of smaller class sizes it is
conditional and only applies to K-4. The president of the AFT there is
"rock-solid research" to show that students learn more in smaller classes.
A report of the Education Department is available online:
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/ReducingClass/Class_size.html
and a report of a study by the Rand Corporation is also online:
http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR924/
If you are interested in knowing if there truly is "rock-solid" research supporting
smaller class sizes I suggest that you read these reports. I would put more
stock in these studies than a quote of a labor leader in the N.Y. Times.
Why would the president of the AFT want us to believe that smaller
class sizes are effective? It might have something to do with the fact that
there is a direct relationship between class sizes and the number of
teaching jobs. Why are Minneapolis Board of Education members living in
a fantasy world? I'm not sure, but I think that it has something to do with
the fact that they believe that they are helping kids, but do not realize
that their philosophical assumptions are faulty. I think that do-gooders often
have a greater need to think that they are doing good, than to actually
be doing good. If you haven't already read it I suggest reading a speech
by E. D. Hirsch it might provide some insight into this question:
http://www.tc.umn.edu/~athe0007/HirschArticle.html
Michael Atherton
Prospect Park
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